In Dutch highschool I was thought that the main cause was jealousy from other countries and a failing foreign policy, and that it nearly destroyed the Netherlands. Is this accurate, or is it a very Dutch view on the events?
As I'm not sure this is a homework question or not, I leave it to you to read up on what led to Het Rampjaar. But I will comment on the impact and what happened in that fateful year.
Up to 1672, the Dutch were enjoying a truly Golden Age. Trade was booming, and the Netherlands gained true political security following the settlement of the Peace of Westphalia. A big part of its success were due to the support of France as it entered the Thirty Years' War and England as it left the Spanish Habsburg orbit and entered into coalition with northern Protestants.
However, France felt that the Dutch should be reduced into a rump state, and further claimed inheritance of the Spanish Netherlands just as the Bourbon Dynasty took over in Spain itself. Civil war in England changed its alignment from alliance to enmity. This led to the Anglo-Dutch wars, which up to 1672 had been fought in favor of the Dutch. Now, former allies turned against the Dutch.
The idea of fighting for its survival was not alien to the Dutch, after all they had fought the Eighty Years' War. But in a way their worst fear came true, which was to be surrounded by enemies, especially the Archbishoprics of Munster and Koln. Instead of fighting along the same lines across the Scheldt, they had to right in their southeast. This is the genius of Louis XIV's army: they bypassed the Scheldt, joined up with Munster and Koln, and took the fight to the heart of the Dutch republic. The Dutch had to flood the dikes (the waterveste) in order to slow and stop the progress of Louis XIV's army.
Internally, politics saw fighting (bloody political murders) between Republicans and Orangists, culminating in the slaughter of the brothers de Witt. There was a strong religious undertone too, as France, Koln, and Munster claimed their casus belli to be the protection of Catholic rights. As the Orangist faction rose and purged the Republicans, so did orthodox Calvinists against more tolerant politicians. This led to Amsterdam's purge of Catholics. So, not only was there war against foreign powers, there was also internal war.
Economically it was a very bad time, but the banking system did not completely collapse. However, it did lead to loans at high interest rates that had to be paid for a very long time. So this set a very negative impact in the longer term.
Hart, Jonker, van Zanden, A Financial History of the Netherlands, Cambridge University Press 1997.
Israel, The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall, 1477-1806, Oxford University Press 1995.