In The Netherlands, prices are rising at an annual average of 7%. The government resigned last June after failing to check prices, and it scheduled an election for next month.

Americans who complain about the high cost of living can take some solace by looking at Western Europe. There, prices are rising almost twice as fast as in the U.S. Like a pernicious plague, inflation infests the whole Continent; it is damaging living standards and shaking governments. The annual rate…

Along with other countries, the Netherlands have been forced to impose price freezes. Introduction of the value-added tax, a complex form of sales tax, helped to push inflation.

France, The Netherlands and Denmark have been forced to impose price freezes on nearly every variety of goods and services sold within their borders. All three countries, along with West Germany, Italy, Belgium and Sweden, have recently raised bank interest rates (some of them several times) in an effort to…

Because of sharp inflation and a mounting balance-of-payments deficit, the central bank has introduced hardfisted monetary policies. The result: the economy is cooling off considerably.

Throughout its remarkable postwar prosperity, Western Europe has reacted fast to fight inflation. Lately, it may have overreacted: with country after country splashing cold water on overheated economies, icicles have started forming. After clipping along at a 5.6% pace in 1964, the Continent’s overall economic growth rate dropped to 4%…

The Dutch have a severe balance-of-payments deficit, and with wages up 36.5% in three years and living costs climbing 5% annually, inflation is higher than any European neighbor.

Hans Brinker, Holland’s storybook skating whiz, needn’t hock the silver skates — not yet. But the way the Dutch economy is going, the occasion may arise. Holland has a severe balance-of-payments deficit, and with wages up 36.5% in three years and living costs climbing at an annual rate of 5%, the…