-in the netherlands we have mortrage reduction on the taxes. This means that you can subtract the amount of money you pay on your mortgage from the taxes. This was devised to help people buy houses, but it's much more profitable for the rich than for the middle class (it works regressive).
The bubble itself isn't that big a deal here- the rise of prices has flattened, but because new supply is isn't coming to the market(not enough space, very tough to get permits to build) and more and more people want one-family homes, prices for middle-class houses will probably stay high (unless something happens with the mortrage reduction, then prices will drop).
I'm actually not sure the recession in the Netherlands had to do with housing- because the Dutch economy is so open and dependant on world trade, we got pulled into recession by other countries. But it might've played a role.
-Governments have been trying to get people out of the benefits and into work since Purple-II. Benefits have been significantly reduced and it's harder to stay into WAO. The big problem is of course that when they stay unemployed/disabled, the state has to pay benefits and senior's pension while they don't contribute. This has been an issue, and they're working on it- though not in the right way IMO(instead of just cutting benefits they should also help the people more to get work/retrain etc.)
-Actually, in the early 80's, unions traded the 36 hour work week for low demands in wage negotiations. This created a situation where young workers could find new jobs, older workers had to work less and employers had a lower wage bill. This was one of the big reasons why the dutch economy rebounded in the 1990s (the competative price advantague due to lower comparative wages). Woman often work part-time due to their kids- they want to be more at home and kindergartens etc. are so expensive that they nowadays can't afford it. For every labouryear in the netherlands, 1.25 people are employed. So labour participation is pretty high, but the hours worked isn't. People on WAO also work part-time, they are often partially disapproved, so have to work part-time and get for example 40% wao (not many people get 100% anymore).
One thing many people don't realise about the sizable German outside-EU trade surplus (at 30-35%, larger than the c. 25% with the rest of the EU) is that Germany imports a lot via the Netherlands (and Belgium) - and has a bilateral trade deficit. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
