• From most of its economic data post financial crisis one would be inclined to think Belgium is a peripheral Southern European eurozone economy.
• The Dutch economy on the other hand is one of the most competitive in the world.
• Yet for most of the post-financial crisis period, the Belgium economy performed considerably better on growth, the labor market and household consumption.
• We look at the data and will try to make sense of this seeming puzzle.
• We’ll also look at what can be gauged from this for the relative outlook of the countries’ bond markets.

A Curious Economic Riddle – iShares MSCI Netherlands ETF (NYSEARCA:EWN) | Seeking Alpha