Iceland has a new problem
Remember when Iceland, instead of letting their crooked bankers get off scot-free like the U.S. and U.K. did, threw their sorry asses in jail?
And remember when Iceland, instead of putting enormous amounts of debt on the taxpayer to bail out these criminal enterprises, simply let the banks go bust?
You may be under the impression that Iceland really got away with something by defying conventional neoliberal thought.
Well, you are wrong. The bill has come due for Iceland, and now they're going to pay.
Iceland’s recorded GDP growth was 11.3% in the final quarter of 2016, and the country is now struggling to contain an economic boom largely fuelled by a growing tourism sector.In 2015, tourism accounted for 31% of the country’s foreign exchange earnings and 13.7% of total employment in the nation. Booming tourism has not been the only factor contributing to the króna’s steady appreciation. Increased consumption and comparatively high-interest rates have also played a leading role in attracting foreign investors.
Take that Iceland!
They are being righteously punished for their sins with too much foreign investment, too many foreign tourists and an economy that is growing too fast.
It seems they've also lifted all capital controls.
Aren't you glad that we didn't throw our crooked banksters in jail and close down their criminal enterprises?
Comments
Iceland is such a NICE land!
It couldn't happen to a nicer people!
Hot springs all over the freakin' joint, all the hákarl you could possibly want to eat (and markedly more tasty things from the sea as well), a wonderful, beautiful, peace-loving cultured people. And actual fucking justice, to boot!
I wish I could live there myself, truth be told!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
I'll pass on the hákari
5 month old, rotten shark meat. But I agree about the rest of Iceland. They get 85% of all their energy, 100% of their electricity, from renewable sources (wikipedia).
Beware the bullshit factories.
In circa 1965
when I was an impoverished youth flying back and forth to Europe on Icelandic Airlines, with huddled multitudes of similarly penniless college students, the breakfast menu as I recall consisted of tuna fish salad, soggy tomatoes and genuine Icelandic grown coffee which was way down in the pH 3s as my stomach remembers it.The airlines always offered a 2 day stop over and no one ever took it. SBJ! let us land in Luxembourg with sweet butter, croissants, strawberries, before this coffee eats our stomachs out!Given a chance 30 years later for a free trip to Iceland, I skipped it.
I'm a crippled arthritic man.
I'm a crippled arthritic man. Mere access to the hot springs would justify dwelling there for me, even if I had to eat nothing but hákarl (which I wouldn't -- only a tiny quantity is made for public purchase these days). But the rest of the advantages would be just gravy for me: 100% renewable sourced electricity, a kindly, cultured, and intelligent people who encourage all adults to become more kind, cultured, and intelligent.... it just makes sense.
And, as long as you're part of the 99%, it is axiomatic that all -- repeat ALL -- airline food sucks. I wouldn't judge a people's cuisine from its sucky airline food. On the other hand, airline food that is genuinely edible or better does score to a nation's credit. (South Korea and Qatar's national airlines have forged new world standards in this area, much to the consternation of many Western airlines' boards of directors.)
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Didn't the UK take stock in the banks as a cost of
bailing them out?
We're far too purist to do anything that smacks so much of creeping socialism as taking stock in banks. We insist on corporate welfare because...capitalism. (If you think that last sentence doesn't makes any kind of sense, you are correct!)
Then soon to be Treasury Secretary Geithner even went to capital hill to make sure Dodd and Frank didn't get any funny ideas, like denying bankster executives their bonuses. I know there was some nonsense excuse shilled by media about getting sued for breach of contract, but that was bs. Supposedly, Paulson leaned on banks that wanted no part of the bailout to participate in it anyway.
Whether that is true or not, Paulson could have persuaded the executives to sign releases/waivers, as follows: "Sign this, bozo or no paycheck next week, or ever again, capisce? And, while you're kissing your paycheck and your ass goodbye, you may as well smooch your stock and stock options, too, because they'll be worth zero without this bailout. So, the board of directors of your bank can decide whether to fire you, get your release/waiver or have a going out of business sale." I bet Paulson would have gotten those releases in 5-4-3-2-
Besides, as far as I ever knew, a bonus, by definition, is not a contractual obligation at all, but an amount paid above and beyond what is legally due a worker, something a worker gets based upon great performance. Letting your employer go belly up is not generally considered great job performance for an executive.
Meanwhile, we don't even want people on food stamps to be able to decide how to spend them. "No
soupsoda for you!" But, we'll pay bonuses for horrific performance? BTW, it's a myth that we lost no money on the bailout. Google it.Off topic, but look up Hayek and "creeping socialism"
interesting stuff.
I wondered from your comment why I had heard that term so much over the years, and what it meant.
Humans are funny. Tell me, what is it about that phrase that seems to stick with us?
Creeping Capitalism is the real problem. It's alliterative too.
Hayek was one of many who did not believe socialism was a good
idea. Did you mention him for a specific reason?
In the U.S., capitalism doesn't need to creep, any more than oxygen needs to creep.
Fox and conservative radio
are where I learned of Hyak. He's their darling.
Not surprising. Neolibs and neocons both like him, I'm
guessing, though neolibs would likely be quieter about it.
I'm sorry I wasn't very clear. In part, that's why I said o/t.
I was just interested in the idea of the framing of "creeping socialism" and where the phrase, which seems so "natural", so that it almost trite came from.
Googling, I came across this:
It could well be that the quote is incorrect and that the phase was in actual use much earlier.
Either way, I was simply interested in the framing that folks have used in the opposition to socialism.
I hope that clears things up.
Good for them.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
@dkmich If one doesn't click
If one doesn't click through and read the story, one is left with the impression that something horrible is happening in Iceland ("now they're going to pay"). I personally find this way of presenting a story misleading; maybe it was cute once but once was enough.
If Iceland keeps up with this shit it's going to get bombed.
This sort of thing might be infectious and spread to other nations.
One regime change, coming right up!
Take that, Evil Icelanders!
They're pushing it ...
...with this 100% renewable energy crap.
/s
Beware the bullshit factories.
@CB
Oh, dear - a democracy working for the public good, depriving the fossil-fuel polluters of their rightful everything, general and rising prosperity in which the people share... this simply dooms them to military intervention.
I do believe that those adorable, sturdy little Icelandic ponies can be trained to kick like demons as a first line of defense, though.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
“We *had* to bomb Iceland — they were about to ‘do a Gaddafi’
and replace the petrodollar with a new pan-European currency, the Nordic gold krona.”
@lotlizard
Ssssshhhhh! We're not supposed to know about that! Not until after all of the fossil-fuel-relevant countries have been captured/nuked.
Although they might 'accidentally bomb Iceland back to the Stone Age' over a period of years - or import terrorists in order to 'have a reason' to do so - if people start talking out loud about Iceland's sanity bringing prosperity to The Wrong (non-billionaire) People...
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Skyr is yummy
but Icelandic is completely incomprehensible. Makes Dutch sound plausible, given spelling.
I think I'll fly the Icelandic flag tomorrow.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
Icelandic orthography
Really, it's no worse than Greek or Russian. Once you grok the orthographics that English doesn't use, it's not that bad. It's not Thai or Tibetan, for example.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Granted indeed!
Looking at Icelandic reminds me of Anglo-Saxon, c. 900.
Fortunately, greater minds had translated it for us saps in Early English History.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
I think we are going to get a second chance
at our banksters. A lot never got fixed in 2008-2009. Credit creation is at a global record, broke Greece...well still broke Greece...now a refugee holding pen. Venezuela still teetering. Ten trillion more US debt. Still the magicians at the Fed can keep this going for longer than you think. In recent years the most shorted stocks have gone up the most. Even so record smart money is short once again. The Rubes are all in long and of late making out like Trump bandits. Good for Iceland.
It would cheer me greatly
if you were to provide a reason why we should expect (hope) the government would do a better job with the 2nd chance than it did with the first.
US-Protecting Capital at all cost
When an economy crashes because of bad debt, the debtors have to lose something. It relieves stresses within the economy and allows the economy to start growing again. We inherited the English mentality where the major purpose of government is to protect the property of the upper class. Even the ancients understood this with the concept of a debt jubilee. It allowed the economy to restart. It relieved debt for the majority of people at the cost of some of the wealth of the upper class. And yes, it was a wealth transfer mechanism. We've already had that for the last 30 years, but it's a wealth transfer from the 99% to the 1%. We will get a chance to try this again. Is there any chance that the government will do the right thing?
Capitalism has always been the rule of the people by the oligarchs. You only have two choices, eliminate them or restrict their power.
Damn Vikings
They're at it again! We should be bombing them with cruise missiles!
"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott