FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2007 file photo a Dutch man rides his bike in front of windmills in Kinderdijk, Netherlands. While tax hikes and budget cuts have led to partisan warfare in the

... more 

FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2007 file photo a Dutch man rides his bike in front of windmills in Kinderdijk, Netherlands. While tax hikes and budget cuts have led to partisan warfare in the U.S. and widespread strikes in Southern Europe, in 2013 the Netherlands is weathering "austerity" with relative grace. Some say that's because the country is experiencing a renaissance of its famed "Polder Model," a compromise system in which a centrist government works with labor unions and employers' associations to ensure the burden of painful economic reforms are shared across society. Poldering is deeply rooted in Dutch society: Historically the population had to cooperate to maintain a costly system of windmills and dikes to prevent floods and turn marshes into dry farmland known as polders. (AP Photo/ Evert-Jan Daniels, File) less