Money connects many of the stories in this morning's Dutch dailies: a notorious criminal - currently serving time for extortion - will be freed at the end of the month; initial estimate of New Year's Eve damage is €10 million; payslips look healthy but purchasing power has fallen and the public is in favour of cutting the budget for the Dutch royals.

Career criminal Holleeder scheduled for release
All the papers cover the news that one of the Netherlands’ most notorious criminals is scheduled for release at the end of January. De Volkskrant reports that Willem Holleeder - who kidnapped Freddy Heineken back in the early 1980s - will be freed after serving just two-thirds of a nine year sentence for extortion.

The paper gives a complete rundown of Holleeder’s career in crime and paints a picture of a vicious thug who made millions through murder, extortion, kidnapping and drugs.

The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) is still investigating Holleeder in connection with dozens of underworld murders and liquidations but at the moment "has insufficient hard evidence against him."

De Telegraaf’s front-page headline is a cunning pun: "Holleeder escapes liquidation trial," adding that the evidence gathered by the PPS is "far too thin."

The populist paper reminds us that a few years ago all the papers were reporting that Holleeder was "behind 25 murders," and adds that although the "king of the Amsterdam underworld" is still a suspect, the PPS doesn't have enough evidence to prosecute.

The rest of the papers serve up the same story but don't offer any new information, insights or opinions.
Holleeder is a career criminal and despite convictions for major crimes - kidnapping and extortion - he has only spent eight years behind bars and made millions. Who says crime doesn’t pay?

New Year's Eve damage cost at least €10 million
De Volkskrant reports that insurers initial assessment of the damage caused by New Year's Eve rioters amounts to about €10 million, but that figure does not include damage to government property (street signs, traffic lights, government buildings, emergency services vehicles and equipment) private property, school buildings and public transport equipment and vehicles.

Those costs will come out of the public purse, which in these economically-difficult times is not good news. The paper reports that there were 8500 violent incidents and says the Netherlands is an exception in Europe; New Year's Eve celebrations in other countries are peaceful affairs.

A column in AD asks why it has become a tradition in this country to 'celebrate' New Year's Eve with riots and destruction. Hans van Zon writes "The Chinese, who invented gunpowder, used fireworks at the beginning of the New year to banish angry spirits. The Dutch have turned this tradition into a caricature of itself and the fireworks are now in the hands of the angry spirits."

Van Zon continues "the country has turned into war zone by 10 o'clock in the morning on New Year's Eve... fireworks have become weapons and are thrown at passers-by, police officers and ambulance workers." He ends with a plea to turn the fireworks over to professionals who "know what to do with dangerous fireworks and how to turn them into a party."

Pay slip looks good but salary will buy less
"Payslip looks okay," headlines AD on its front page and reassures its readers that the economic crisis, "has not led to a lower net amount on payslips."

As always, the devil is in the details and although many people appear to be taking home more money, the rising costs of childcare, health care and pensions whisk that ‘extra’ money straight out of your bank account before you have had a chance to blink.

According to AD’s economists, taxes and energy bills are going up, as well as health-care contributions and childcare costs. Pensions will remain frozen but rents are going up. AD paints a grim picture of the Netherlands’ immediate economic future and nrc.next cheerfully concurs: "The country hasn't recovered from the last recession but we’re already into the next one. The double-dip is almost certainly a fact."

The paper blithely continues its summation of the economic outlook with "Unemployment will increase by 90,000 to reach 545,000, the economy isn’t growing and no one knows if the euro will manage to survive." nrc.next asks if there are any hopeful notes on the horizon and answers its own question with "yes, the debt restructuring sector is growing!”

Public favour cutting Beatrix’s budget
The government may be forced to cut a further five or 6 billion from the budget and the public has a few suggestions as to where those cuts should be made. Trouw reports that a poll conducted by TNS/NIPO has revealed that 46 percent of respondents put cutting the budget for the Dutch royals and cutting the development aid budget at the top of their list of spending cuts.

Queen Beatrix is one of the richest women in the world, so it seems only right and proper that she should share some of the country's economic burden.

The poll, commissioned by the Netherlands Atlantic Association, found that 37 percent of respondents are in favour of cutting the integration budget but that just 15 percent are in favour of cutting the defence budget.

Trouw writes that the government won't be able to realise much money by cutting funding for the monarchy or from the integration budget but the €4 billion development aid budget could be a real problem for the cabinet. The Freedom Party, which supports the minority cabinet in parliament, wants to completely scrap development aid but the Christian Democrats are vehemently opposed to such a move. It could be a very difficult spring for the government.

Old hippies still getting high
De Pers opens with a photograph of a very old hippy smoking a joint and reports that the number of drug-addicted elderly people continues to climb. "Hard-core hippies just can't give up their bad habits," writes the paper.

The number of elderly patients in addiction clinics has increased dramatically; between 2000 and 2009; the number of patients over the age of 55 increased from 4,200 to 10,600. The European Union drugs and addiction watchdog predicts that by 2050, of at least 25 percent of junkies will be over the age of 65.

According to the free sheet, “special old people's homes for junky hippies are not just a pipedream; they’ll soon be a sorely needed reality." De Pers tells us that the era of the "smoking, snorting, swilling and injecting old-age pensioner is upon us."