<p>The Netherlands is the world's second largest agricultural exporter' after the United States.</p><p>AMSTERDAM: In the U.S., tax hikes have been the subject of partisan warfare that brought the country to the very edge of a "fiscal cliff." In southern Europe, spending cuts have led to mass protests and labor strikes.</p><p>Maybe both could learn from the Dutch whose compromise culture has kept the country afloat throughout the economic storm.</p><p>In the Netherlands, hits from the global financial crisis have so far been absorbed in a more relaxed way, as political parties, trade unions and officials have been more focused on cutting deals than in fighting over principles and sharing pain as well as prosperity.</p><p><a href="http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Dutch+survive+crisis+with+tradition+of+compromise&NewsID=363308">Keep reading...</a></p>