On the first of September 2013 the Spanish football team Real Madrid made public its acquisition of Gareth Bale, for a record price of 100 million Euros. Real Madrid has a debt of close to 600 million, financed in large parts by Caja de Madrid, a regional bank which is now part of Bankia. Bankia, a bank recently saved through the ESM for no less than 18 billion Euros, now backs this purchase by Real Madrid as well. Certainly these European funds cannot be used as a backstop for these unsustainable practices.

Is the Commission aware of this situation and if so, how is it going to respond to European taxpayer's money being used in such deals?

If one is to believe New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, public debt and budget deficit are minor side issues. In his August 9^th column, he speaks of the 'false fear factor' for debts. On May 31^st, he embraced the notion that it does not matter much for growth whether a country has a debt-to-GDP ratio of 50% or 150%. Krugman reminds me of the former Belgian Budget Minister, the Walloon socialist Guy Mathot, who in the early eighties said that "debt comes naturally and automatically goes away again." Mathot went away, his mountain of debt remained.

Mathot was a charlatan and Krugman, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2008, is starting to become one. During that period, some Nobel Prizes had a political character: protest against the Bush administration. In 2007, former Vice President Al Gore re-born as an environmentalist received the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2009 it was Barack Obama, who had just assumed office as president. Officially Krugman was awarded the Nobel Prize for economic research on trade flows, but his columns against Bush allowed him to gain fame. He became a gunner of progressive America.

Krugman believes that only a big government with its spending can provide for sufficient employment through the Trinity: high deficits, high debt and high taxes. Krugman was obviously pleased with President Obama as world champion debt creator. When Obama took office in early 2009 the U.S. debt was 65% of GDP, now it's 105%. The Republicans in Congress wanted to slow the debt explosion by means of "automatic cuts". Krugman was furious: "That's a lie. We should not cut spending, we need to spend more", he wrote on February 22^nd. Republicans were "fools". Krugman predicted a disaster. "Cuts destroy jobs and cause economic contraction." But the disaster did not occur. Meanwhile, the debt explosion slowed, the budget is somewhat under control and employment is increasing. There are limits to make debts.

King Philippe and King [of the Netherlands] Willem Alexander's reign are almost mirrored to one another in terms of country, style and political environment. Willem Alexander can, as long as he does not commit blunders, always fall back on the 'Orange sentiment' of a nation-state roaring down on itself. Two coronations: a celebration for the people versus establishment happening. Philippe has to navigate in an 'artificial state' with 3 languages, seven parliaments and bus-loads of ministers. Attempts to form a government in 2010-2011 lasted 541 days, a world record. In 2014 the political big bang will follow: elections at the federal and the state level on the same day. Does Philippe, King of the Belgians, have the gift to keep the country together? To do this he must win the Flemish over.

To the Dutch the southern neighbour has always been a rather chaotic country, a cartel of 589 villages. Brussels consists of 19 villages and Antwerp calls itself a city, but is it? Belgium is also the only country that I know of that has a sort of 'Belgian ambassador to Belgium'. Retired Ambassador Johan Swinnen mediates between the many governments (federal and states) all conducting their own foreign policy. Swinnen has the necessary experience on heavy items such as Congo (colonial past), Rwanda (genocide of 1994) and the Netherlands (Dutch pride).

Yet there is 'method' to the Belgian 'madness', and the king, with his advisors, is at the core of it. The King of the Belgians has to apply the glue that keeps his kingdom together. He glues in place prominent figures by elevating them to nobility; from businessman to sports hero, singer, astronaut or royalist journalist. Eddy Merckx for instance is also 'Baron Merckx'. Politicians can make it to 'minister of state', of which there are around fifty. A sensibility to honorary titles proves to be an effective binder.

The House of Representatives sinks its teeth in the Fyra drama. The parliamentary inquiry is the only hard power which the Dutch parliament has left. Too little, too late. Europe has already eroded the power over budget law and parliamentary control in other policy areas is also waning. The only thing that remains to the House is the 'right to information'.

MPs are propelled by a 'fads', reinforced by limited collective experience. In 1990 the average number of years of experience was more than 8 years. Now it is approximately 3.5 years. Some subjects cause excitement, like the weed pass or the smoking ban. Even the senators interfere with the details, as was the case, for example, with the registration of prostitutes. Senator Ester of the Christian Union opposed the 'waterbed effect', the movement of prostitutes to municipalities with the most favourable licensing. Loose morals are attracted by loose regulations.

The commotion surrounding the 'waterbed effect' stands in stark contrast to the adoption of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which requires the Netherlands to support rescue operations of weak brethren in the Eurozone for tens of billions of euros. Dutch parliament approved a treaty that was changed the next day by European leaders. Not only countries, but also weak banks should be saved. Thus, the Netherlands ratified an old text. No one spoke up. The Fyra is small-fry (maximum damage 1 billion) compared with the zombie banks in Spain and Cyprus.