Wilders Calls for the Guilder's Return
Amid increasing economic woes and budget cuts, a PVV sponsored report claims that the Netherlands might in fact be better off without the Euro. JOEP DERKSEN investigates the facts behind such a dramatic proposal.
The PVV is done with the Euro, says party leader Geert Wilders. He wants to reintroduce the national currency, which was abolished in 2002. According to Wilders, this would be a better solution than dragging on with the Euro. He pleads for a national referendum, so that the Dutch can decide for themselves whether or not they would like to have the Guilder back in their wallets.
In order to back up his ideas to change the Dutch Euro back to the Nederlandse Gulden (Guilder), Geert Wilders’ PVV turned to the reputable British company Lombard Street Research. There have been questions as to why Wilders had to go all the way to England to have this research executed and it is not a coincidence that Lombard Street Research is known as being a Euro-critical enterprise. Therefore, the official outcome that the Dutch citizens would be better off with the Guilder, comes as no surprise. According to the research, every man, woman and child in the Netherlands has to pay 2,700 euro per year for costs related to the Euro. This is attributed to meagre economic growth and the current debt crisis in Mediterranean Europe. On the other hand, due to increased trade and the lack of transaction expenses, the annual revenue per citizen is 800 euro.
And it will become even worse, according to Lombard: helping Greece out of its detrimental financial situation will cost the Netherlands 127 billion euro. In order to pay for this, the Dutch government made 18 billion euro worth of cutbacks last year alone. For the coming year, new cut backs of up to 16 billion euro have to be found. But, out of solidarity with the Greek government, that has allegedly misled its European counterparts for years with false economic figures, the Dutch government has already agreed to help the Greek with 40 billion euro in aid. Penny wise, pound foolish, a cynic would say.
The Lombard report states that ‘While the euro has advantages that in principle are worth a once-off 2-2.25 percent of GDP to The Netherlands, these have been heavily outweighed by disadvantages.' According to the research, growth of Dutch GDP has slumped from its pre-euro rate, as well as falling well short of growth in comparable non-euro countries, Sweden and Switzerland. Moreover, the sacrifice of wages and salaries has deprived Dutch people of virtually all of the income resulting from such meagre growth as has been achieved. The report continues that 'Under the pre-euro benign regime, wage and salary restraint was rewarded by the income gains flowing from a rising currency in a very open economy.’
Alarming figures are found throughout the report, as Dutch GDP in the ten years leading to 2011 is shown to have grown at 1.25 percent a year, versus 3 percent in the previous 20 years. The annual rates for Sweden and Switzerland for the same period were 2.25 percent and 1.75 percent, respectively, with neither slowing from the previous decade. These latter two economies also performed better in terms of inflation, employment growth, budget balance and overseas surplus. Also, according to the research, Dutch consumer spending fell to 0.25 percent per year, a figure which could have been 30 billion Euro higher; 1,800 euro per person.
Naturally, there has been fierce criticism levelled at the outcomes of the report, especially the focus in comparing the Netherlands with Sweden and Switzerland. Why not compare the Dutch economy to that of Britain? Is it because the British economy has not fared all too well throughout the past ten years? Even though the good old British Pound is still alive and kicking?
It is highly doubtful whether the PVV will succeed in bringing back the Guilder. But, to be fair, it is not the Guilder per se that people want to see return. It is the much lower prices that we used to pay in the supermarkets. Who would have paid five guilders for a glass of beer or a cup of coffee in an average pub in 2000? Absolutely nobody. But in 2012, 2,30 Euro is the standard price for such a consumption. No, the Dutch tax payers can't be said to want the Guilder back; but a referendum to cut prices in half and double salaries? Now, that could prove a popular choice.
The PVV is done with the Euro, says party leader Geert Wilders. He wants to reintroduce the national currency, which was abolished in 2002. According to Wilders, this would be a better solution than dragging on with the Euro. He pleads for a national referendum, so that the Dutch can decide for themselves whether or not they would like to have the Guilder back in their wallets.
In order to back up his ideas to change the Dutch Euro back to the Nederlandse Gulden (Guilder), Geert Wilders’ PVV turned to the reputable British company Lombard Street Research. There have been questions as to why Wilders had to go all the way to England to have this research executed and it is not a coincidence that Lombard Street Research is known as being a Euro-critical enterprise. Therefore, the official outcome that the Dutch citizens would be better off with the Guilder, comes as no surprise. According to the research, every man, woman and child in the Netherlands has to pay 2,700 euro per year for costs related to the Euro. This is attributed to meagre economic growth and the current debt crisis in Mediterranean Europe. On the other hand, due to increased trade and the lack of transaction expenses, the annual revenue per citizen is 800 euro.
And it will become even worse, according to Lombard: helping Greece out of its detrimental financial situation will cost the Netherlands 127 billion euro. In order to pay for this, the Dutch government made 18 billion euro worth of cutbacks last year alone. For the coming year, new cut backs of up to 16 billion euro have to be found. But, out of solidarity with the Greek government, that has allegedly misled its European counterparts for years with false economic figures, the Dutch government has already agreed to help the Greek with 40 billion euro in aid. Penny wise, pound foolish, a cynic would say.
The Lombard report states that ‘While the euro has advantages that in principle are worth a once-off 2-2.25 percent of GDP to The Netherlands, these have been heavily outweighed by disadvantages.' According to the research, growth of Dutch GDP has slumped from its pre-euro rate, as well as falling well short of growth in comparable non-euro countries, Sweden and Switzerland. Moreover, the sacrifice of wages and salaries has deprived Dutch people of virtually all of the income resulting from such meagre growth as has been achieved. The report continues that 'Under the pre-euro benign regime, wage and salary restraint was rewarded by the income gains flowing from a rising currency in a very open economy.’
Alarming figures are found throughout the report, as Dutch GDP in the ten years leading to 2011 is shown to have grown at 1.25 percent a year, versus 3 percent in the previous 20 years. The annual rates for Sweden and Switzerland for the same period were 2.25 percent and 1.75 percent, respectively, with neither slowing from the previous decade. These latter two economies also performed better in terms of inflation, employment growth, budget balance and overseas surplus. Also, according to the research, Dutch consumer spending fell to 0.25 percent per year, a figure which could have been 30 billion Euro higher; 1,800 euro per person.
Naturally, there has been fierce criticism levelled at the outcomes of the report, especially the focus in comparing the Netherlands with Sweden and Switzerland. Why not compare the Dutch economy to that of Britain? Is it because the British economy has not fared all too well throughout the past ten years? Even though the good old British Pound is still alive and kicking?
It is highly doubtful whether the PVV will succeed in bringing back the Guilder. But, to be fair, it is not the Guilder per se that people want to see return. It is the much lower prices that we used to pay in the supermarkets. Who would have paid five guilders for a glass of beer or a cup of coffee in an average pub in 2000? Absolutely nobody. But in 2012, 2,30 Euro is the standard price for such a consumption. No, the Dutch tax payers can't be said to want the Guilder back; but a referendum to cut prices in half and double salaries? Now, that could prove a popular choice.
(Verschenen in The Holland Times, april edition)
posted by Joep J.B. Derksen @ 2:12 p.m.
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