The "Dutch model" has become a catchphrase for progressive European politicians pondering the possibilities of a new model of "third way" capitalism with a human face, sufficiently robust to face the challenge of economic internationalization. Foreign politicians, central bankers and union leaders alike praise the combination of fiscal conservatism, wage moderation, consensual welfare reform, record job (part-time) creation, while maintaining overall social security (see Schmid, 1996; Visser and Hemerijck, 1997; Hemerijck and Van Kersbergen, 1997; Visser, 1997). Best of all, they observe, the Netherlands is the only EU member state to have more than halved its unemployment rate during the past decade, from 13-plus percent in 1983 to 4 percent in 1998, while the EU average remained close to eleven per cent. In contrast to the American "job machine", Dutch job growth is less associated with a sharp increase in wage dispersion and incomes inequality. Inequality has increased but the Netherlands has been able to maintain a middle rank between Germany and Scandinavian countries on the one hand, Britain and the US on the other.