Being a geopolitical pawn in a country averse to vision ain’t no picnic

For matters of vision, go to the eye doctor, longest-serving Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte famously said. By now, we know the result: a country that’s stuck. Dysfunctional healthcare and government agencies, an overheated housing market, stagnation in climate change and environmental policies, an overloaded power grid – that’s what you get when your interpretation of liberalism is that things should be left to run their course and the job of politicians is to put out fires.

ASML’s concerns about the Dutch business climate have now become such a ‘Ruttian’ fire. The government has set up a task force to prevent “the impending exit” of the equipment manufacturer, De Telegraaf reported on Wednesday. It won’t come to that. In fact, even just an expansion abroad rather than in Veldhoven would be fraught with challenges, but it’s not unthinkable either.