Financial crisis in Iceland, from Uboat.net

[Onkel Neal]

Gummi of Uboat.net posted some comments about the problems they are having. Pretty rough. Anyone here from Iceland?

http://uboat.net/


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[Konovalov]

Bad news in Iceland. Amazing to think that a dozen or so people in the banking sector there could bring the country to it's knees.

Then again this might be a great time to travel to Iceland for a holiday.

[AVGWarhawk]

It is unbelievable to read something like that this day in age. It read like a passage from a WW2 diary.

[Captain Nemo]

Originally Posted by Konovalov

Then again this might be a great time to travel to Iceland for a holiday.

I was in Iceland back in December/January and it's a very interesting place to visit. At the time I went it was expensive, pint of beer £5-6, but it sounds like the crunch has made it very cheap. Having said that, Iceland relies heavily on imported goods and if their currency has been devalued by 90% I don't know how that would really make things cheaper as inflation would be astronomical. Also, I'm not sure the Brits would be welcome at the moment, what with using anti-terror laws to seize Icelandic assets in the UK.

Nemo

[XabbaRus]

Konovolov is an Oz he'd be OK.

[Kapitan_Phillips]

According to XE.com:

1 GBP (Great British Pound) = 189.062 ISK (Icelandic Kronur)

And 1 ISK is equivalent to half a British penny

(And for those of you who dont speak Europe; 1 USD = 121.777 ISK)

This reminds me of Germany post Great War

[XabbaRus]

I disagree with one thing he wrote. My understanding is anti terror legislation was used AFTER the Icelandic PM told UK depsitors to go to hell....AFTER the bank went belly up.

[Konovalov]

Originally Posted by XabbaRus

Konovolov is an Oz he'd be OK.

Yeah. I'll just have to flash my passport wherever I go there so as to not get set upon by a crazed mob.

[Jimbuna]

I've a friend living in Reykjavik and when I told him to spare a thought for all the UK businesses who had lost money in Iceland he responded (in a polite way) by asking me to spare a thought for his fellow countrymen who now found their possessions and savings just about worthless.

[Skybird]

Interesting to see how the interest in such stories grows the closer the place it where they take place. In Argentine some years ago, things were more serious, I would say, but almost nobody gave a damn.

However, Argentine is on the path of recovery, somewhat, so even if Iceland may fall even deeper, sooner or later it reaches the point from where things can only improve again.

May it serve as a warning to all who think the old financial system could be left untouched. It were serious inherent flaws that prevented the system from functioning properly and as advertised, that led to this. Just having sympathy for the Icelanders is not enough. In fact, it is worth nothing. The consequences we draw from the lessons learned is what decides what our sympathy will be worth.

In germany, banks are hesitent to make use of the finacial aid package the government readied for them to raise trust and keep capital flowing between banks. That is because accepting aid from that package would mean to limit the monthly income of top managers to half a million, which is one of the conditions the government has (rightfully) attached to it. The govenrment already begs them on it's knees to make use of the package, to prevent even more damage for the economy. but it seems that many bosses think that it is better to milk their bank even more and by that they accept that maximizing of damages to the state and the community instead of putting limits to their greed for more excessive monthly wages. that such people will never learn the lessons and enver will act not responsibly, but selfishly, is clear, and that the needed changes and corrections will not happen if things are left to these kinds of people, is a certain thing.

[Diopos]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Interesting to see how the interest in such stories grows the closer the place it where they take place. In Argentine some years ago, things were more serious, I would say, but almost nobody gave a damn.

However, Argentine is on the path of recovery, somewhat, so even if Iceland may fall even deeper, sooner or later it reaches the point from where things can only improve again.

May it serve as a warning to all who think the old financial system could be left untouched. It were serious inherent flaws that prevented the system from functioning properly and as advertised, that led to this. Just having sympathy for the Icelanders is not enough. In fact, it is worth nothing. The consequences we draw from the lessons learned is what decides what our sympathy will be worth.

In germany, banks are hesitent to make use of the finacial aid package the government readied for them to raise trust and keep capital flowing between banks. That is because accepting aid from that package would mean to limit the monthly income of top managers to half a million, which is one of the conditions the government has (rightfully) attached to it. The govenrment already begs them on it's knees to make use of the package, to prevent even more damage for the economy. but it seems that many bosses think that it is better to milk their bank even more and by that they accept that maximizing of damages to the state and the community instead of putting limits to their greed for more excessive monthly wages. that such people will never learn the lessons and enver will act not responsibly, but selfishly, is clear, and that the needed changes and corrections will not happen if things are left to these kinds of people, is a certain thing.

Eventually we will be thinking if there must a limit on how rich a person can be...:hmm:

[kranz]

yeah, big deal. The problem will start when you have to take a cart to pay for a loaf of bread.

[JHuschke]

Originally Posted by Konovalov

Bad news in Iceland. Amazing to think that a dozen or so people in the banking sector there could bring the country to it's knees.

Then again this might be a great time to travel to Iceland for a holiday.

Most of the times..a BIG problem comes from a little "accident" or whatever you want to call it. I hope Iceland can get back on it's knees, what would it be like without them? Hang on tight !

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Diopos

Eventually we will be thinking if there must a limit on how rich a person can be...:hmm:

More realistically one should think about wether a boss really is doing so much more and important work than the clerk at the counter so that the boss deserves to earn 500 times as much per hour.

as long as a boss does not show up with a cure to cancer or saves the world from war, or cleans the atmopshere from greenhouse gas and brings the biosphere in order, I would say: no.

there were times when the relation of wages between top and bottom where in the range of factors in the 20s. Which is more realisrtic, I think. What is being done today, simply is madness. It happened becasue the law of the jungle took over.

Maybe I need to deal with a world gone insane and now being driven by the law of the jungle, but neither must I call that a good world, nor must I tolerate the conditions and not fight for improvements - if not for myself, than at least for our children.

the greater the polarisation within a society or civilisation, the more social tensions and growing pressure, the more potential for conflict, rebellion of the slaves, revolution - and in the end, war and/or civil war. It is last but not least in the interests of the richer ones not to allow things detoriating too far. He who claims all food on the table just for himself and his clan, sooner or later ends with a poison pill in his Martini.

How many Rolls Ropyce can you drive simultaneously? In how many palaces can you live at the same time without turning red? How many zeroes on your banking account before you become dizzy? When is enough actually enough?

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Konovalov

Yeah. I'll just have to flash my passport wherever I go there so as to not get set upon by a crazed mob.

Or do like me when I travel abroad, just wear your BUSH IN 2008 t-shirt