maybe how much money you are willing to spend isn't a perfect measure of how important something is?

It is just about the only measure. People who claim something is extremely important and then will not take any action or spend any money - they're dishonest people.

Let's see if the Dutch are men of their words. I expect the government to offer to buy this company, or an offering being made for the Dutch investing public to get shares.

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vrganj 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Is water less important to the poor person dying of thirst than to the rich guy watering his lawn?

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carlosjobim 2 hours ago | parent [-]

The question is rather: Why would a person complain about dying of thirst, but refuse to go to the river to drink, and also refuse to pay for a glass of water. That makes me believe he is dishonest when he's saying he is thirsty.

Or are we pretending that the Dutch people don't have any money between them to make an offer on this company?

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vrganj 2 hours ago | parent [-]

We're just establishing that what one can pay is in fact not the only measure, disproving your universal assertion by counterexample.

Regarding the specific case, they probably have the money. But they don't need it. Such is the beauty of regulatory power, vested in a democracy.

	▲	carlosjobim 2 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		The common expression goes: "Put your money where your mouth is" I want to see if the Dutch will do that or not. To see the full beauty of regulatory power, you also have to be blind to the long term consequences of decisions. For example, are the best Dutch entrepreneurs government-aligned to the extent that they will create their startup or business in the Netherlands, knowing that they won't be able to sell shares for their company at full price? If the Dutch were willing to match the American offer, then there would be no long-term issues for them with this blocking action. The result is that European hi-tech entrepreneurs create their businesses in a friendlier environment, which is usually the USA. And that European entrepreneurs who stay in their homeland have a hard time competing for European talent with pay. It's easy for a nation state to mandate almost whatever they want when it comes to fixed stuff such as natural resources and agriculture. But when it comes to human talent, they (still) have the option to leave for better pastures. Or just leave business plans on the shelf.