So Much for " Happy Iceland "

[dilloduck]

Terror as Iceland faces economic collapseHildur Helga Sigurðardóttir in Reykjavik, Helen Power and Peter Stiff
The Icelandic Government seized control of the country’s biggest banks last night in an attempt to fend off wholesale economic collapse.

Turmoil at the banks, whose shares were suspended by the Government yesterday afternoon, had sparked panic in the tiny state, which has a population of 300,000, about the size of Coventry.

Queues formed at petrol stations as Icelanders rushed to fill up before reported fuel shortages, while savers who tried to withdraw money from banks or sell bank shares on the internet found websites were not working.

Meanwhile, fears mounted in Britain that the deterioration of Iceland’s two biggest banks - Kaupthing and Landsbanki - could have disastrous consequences for savers, City staff and the high street.

Related Links
Icelandic Prime Minister addresses the nation
Iceland agrees emergency legislation
Prosperity built on little was always vulnerable
Sources said that Landsbanki and the country’s third-biggest bank, Glitner, will soon be fully nationalised, while Kaupthing had been forced to take state loans.

In a late-night sitting, parliament approved a Bill giving the Government wideranging powers over the banks, including the ability to seize their assets, force them to merge or compel them to sell off their overseas subsidiaries, many of which are in London.

Icelandic banks have lent hundreds of billions of pounds overseas and their position in the world’s financial system far outweighs the size of the country’s tiny economy, the GDP of which was only $20 billion last year.

Terror as Iceland faces economic collapse - Times Online

 

[eots]

fuck... looks like we are going to have print some more money to buy Iceland now..but
we can make them work it off as cheap labor for the auto industry and fodder for Obama's Afghan surge..or no deal

 

[Epsilon Delta]

Well, that sucks. Iceland is one of the most highly developed and freest countries in the world; not bad for a small island that was dirt poor less than a hundred years ago. Not to mention one of those rare nations that developed without enslaving others. Pity to see 'em crash, but that's the way it is.

 

[editec]

Isn't Iceland also the leader in tapping geothermal energy?

 

[dilloduck]

Isn't Iceland also the leader in tapping geothermal energy?

Yup--apparently they did everything right and STILL crashed. I would think there is a lesson in here somewhere.

 

[Andrew2382]

You mean the socialist system didn't work

I am shocked and appaled

 

[editec]

Sounds to me like their banking system is crapping out pretty much like ours is.

 

[dilloduck]

Sounds to me like their banking system is crapping out pretty much like ours is.

Similar to your ship example, everyone is sinking because we don't HAVE national economies anymore. Iceland was tickled to death because the rest of the world was keeping them afloat.

 

[007]

Similar to your ship example, everyone is sinking because we don't HAVE national economies anymore. Iceland was tickled to death because the rest of the world was keeping them afloat.

We have military bases in Iceland. I wonder what's going to happen with them? Do I smell another bail out?

 

[dilloduck]

We have military bases in Iceland. I wonder what's going to happen with them? Do I smell another bail out?

I think we are all going to be told after the fact. No open debates. No chance for input. Do you hear the sound of paper shredders and hard drives being erased ?

 

[AVG-JOE]

Didn't Iceland invest a lot of their capital reserves in nice, safe, American mortgages? Perhaps Gigi and her neighbors in NYC should brace for an invasion...

-Joe

 

[dilloduck]

Didn't Iceland invest a lot of their capital reserves in nice, safe, American mortgages? Perhaps Gigi and her neighbors in NYC should brace for an invasion...

-Joe

Not sure but I do remember posters claiming how beautifully socialism was treating everyone there. Just one big group of equally happy people.

 

[007]

I think we are all going to be told after the fact. No open debates. No chance for input. Do you hear the sound of paper shredders and hard drives being erased ?

I think I hear snare drums as people are beginning to assemble for the next Civil War.

Sorry hussein, but you're going to be the first sons a bitch to go... (hypothetically speaking of course, for those rabid lefties who may not know any better... )

 

[dilloduck]

I think I hear snare drums as people are beginning to assemble for the next Civil War.

Sorry hussein, but you're going to be the first sons a bitch to go...

Well now that we've elected a new president, I think we going to have to find a leader.

 

[007]

Well now that we've elected a new president, I think we going to have to find a leader.

Did you see the newest polls on who "conservatives" would elect? Palin is at the top, Romney is second and Huckabee is third. C'moooon.... none of those get me excited at all. We need someone to come along breathing hell fire and brimstone... we need someone that these mealy mouthed fucking liberals are GENUINELY afraid of... then we'll have our man... or woman.

 

[dilloduck]

Did you see the newest polls on who "conservatives" would elect? Palin is at the top, Romney is second and Huckabee is third. C'moooon.... none of those get me excited at all. We need someone to come along breathing hell fire and brimstone... we need someone that these mealy mouthed fucking liberals are GENUINELY afraid of... then we'll have our man... or woman.

Jokes---we need someone to lead NOW. We're being taken to the cleaners.