Word: dutchness
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...Direct was always meant to be different. Ten years ago, the Dutch financial-services conglomerate ING went to Canada to see whether a bank with no branches, no ATMs and no checkbooks could survive. ING had its home market locked up and was looking to expand around the world. But buying or building enough branches to break into mature markets like the U.S. would be hugely expensive. So the company decided to run an experiment, communicating with customers only by phone, mail and the Internet. With the money saved, ING Direct could offer a significantly higher interest rate on savings...
...Dutch have steered a middle way between irresponsible Continental generosity and practical Anglo-American stinginess. They have also, to lapse into pension jargon, split the difference between DB and DC plans. In a defined-benefit (DB) plan, workers are promised a retirement income, and the sponsor--usually a corporation or government--is on the hook to provide it. In a defined-contribution (DC) plan, the worker and sometimes the employer set aside money and hope it will be enough...
...long relied on workplace pensions to supplement its government plan. The crucial difference is that these pensions were mandatory. Smaller employers had to band together to make a go of it, and industry-wide funds became standard. Run more as independent cooperatives than as captive corporate divisions, the Dutch funds were less prone to underfunding than their U.S. counterparts. When they nonetheless ran into financial trouble in 2002 after the stock market crashed and interest rates sank, the country came up with a unique response. The Dutch funds are now no longer on the hook for providing a set income...
...Belgium became independent in 1830 after a Francophone revolt against the country's Dutch rulers. Cultural and linguistic tensions have been a constant throughout its history, but Belgium's politicians have been remarkably adept at developing compromise mechanisms to maintain a tenuous balance between Flemish and French-speakers whose famously separate communities have different economic profiles, tastes, influences and habits. Talk of devolution is rife, and last December French state broadcaster RTBF interrupted its regular programming to announce that Flanders had declared independence. Viewers were shocked by the grainy footage of King Albert II and Queen Paola heading...
...Front-runner Leterme, 46, has sparked anger by saying that the Belgian nation is an "accident of history" with "no intrinsic value", and accusing Francophones of "lacking the mental capacity to learn Dutch." But even if he emerges as Prime Minister, French speakers should not be too distraught. As Leterme is the son of a Francophone father, they could even claim he is one of theirs...