Austerity Isn't Working for Qnyone

The 2^nd most obnoxious people in Europe in their support of the magical austerity fairy are the Dutch, and now their coalition government has collapsed over their own austerity plans:

More uncertainty loomed for the euro zone on Saturday after the prime minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, said he expected new elections to take place following the collapse of talks on new austerity measures.

The announcement is unwelcome news for Europe’s single currency zone, particularly because the Netherlands is one of just four countries using the euro currency that have maintained a coveted AAA credit rating.

………

The Dutch government has taken a tough line on bailouts for Greece and given strong support to Germany’s efforts to force through a new pact on fiscal responsibility in the euro zone.

But the country’s domestic politics have been plunged into crisis because targets for the budget deficit, laid down by the European Union, were missed.

On Saturday it became clear that a package of measures that had been under negotiation for several weeks, intended to save about 14 billion euros, or $18 billion, would not be supported by the Freedom Party, led by Geert Wilders, a populist right-wing and anti-Islam campaigner. The proposal included spending curbs and tax increases.

If 90% of politics is economics, then the right wing populist parties springing forth throughout Europe have a bright future, because, as much as it pains me, they are right on the economics of the situation.

Of course, the far left parties are largely correct on this too, but the mainstream parties are completely clueless.

Hell of a choice.