Comments on: Notes from the depression: an update

By: Iceland’s Crisis — Can Sar

Iceland’s Crisis — Can Sar — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:51:20 +0000

[...] Iceland Weather Report linked from A Fistful of Euros that has been giving regular updates on the situation on the ground: [T]here were massive layoffs here at the end of last month. Most of those were in the construction [...]

By: The Other Katherine Harris

The Other Katherine Harris — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:29:22 +0000

You’re LUCKY the IMF piece of damnation hasn’t come through. Better hope it stays that way. They’re a pack of evil thieves who ruin every country they touch.

By: maja

maja — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 09:35:59 +0000

Thank you, Alda

By: alda

alda — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 12:51:23 +0000

Rozanne – sigh, indeed.

Sigga – precisely. This is one of the best arguments for looking at EU membership, in my opinion. To give the cronyism a bit less weight – or eliminate it entirely.

Eric – yes, they’re all still open – well, except for Liborius, which I think is closing today. Other stores are all open, but some are struggling.

Andrew – I’m going to try and incorporate some of the questions into a separate post, so – noted. As for the anti-Doddsson demonstrations … yes, I do, but the problem is that the demos have become so vague and watered down now – nobody really knows what is being protested any more.

trev – noted, I’ll try to elaborate on that as much as I can in a separate post.

Vikingsson – you’re probably best off bringing your debit card and taking out cash in ATMs. Although you might want to send a quick email to the Canadian Embassy here in Niceland to see what they recommend.

By: Vikingisson

Vikingisson — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 12:07:55 +0000

Things seem to be moving at a rapid pace and who knows what will happen. This is very sad even for me from the other side of the big pond near where all this started. And I appreciate reading in English all the Icelanders that are now posting.

As a tourist that is just days away from visiting Diceland (no offence, I call Colombia ‘Locombia’ with affection) I am still uncertain about the best form of money to bring and use. I hope I don’t sound selfish by asking. I don’t think I want to use a credit card if nobody knows what the exchange rate is and I get stung twice with a fluctuating Canadian peso. As a mostly cashless society what is my best choice for spending what little I have? Bring U.S.$ and change for local? Spend U.S. $ cash and have a calculator handy? Just use the CC and let my bank guess at the rate and their profit?

By: trev london

trev london — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 10:15:49 +0000

Very interesting post alda, thankyou. What concerns me is the dallying about the IMF loan. Seems the UK (and my friends, the cuddly Dutch. Ik hou van Nederland) is in the firing line again. Speculation is all we have to go on – there’s not been the slightest detail about the on-off Is/Uk negotiations. Is the UK trying to commit Iceland to stuff it’s not obliged to? Nobody knows.

One thing’s for sure. The imperitive to establish a credible rate for the ISK is overwhelming. How can anyone know what they’re actually going to pay when they order Icelandic goods? Or book a holiday? I looked at short breaks on Opodo and Expedia and the GBP package prices were still astonomical. Check out the components in ISK and it’s a fraction of that cost. Someone’s trying to make a sharp buck here.

We are on this roller coaster with Iceland, only they are halfway down the first drop, and we’re just over the apex of the climb. And for all the same reasons.

I hate roller coasters.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 07:08:10 +0000

Alda – I’m interested to know what sort of ‘recession survival plan’ you have drawn up! For example, are you going to try growing your own vegetables (in a greenhouse obviously) or going fishing? I presume you are one of the many people who are only buying the absolute essentials now??

Do you expect the anti-Oddsson demos to continue?

By: Eric

Eric — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 02:33:52 +0000

So are all the cute little boutiques in downtown Reykjavik still open? Are stores closing? What’s going on?

By: Sigga

Sigga — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:53:40 +0000

Alda, we are definitely in a sorry state when the powers that be refuse to take any blame for what has happened. But another sorry state of affairs is that ofcourse we are all very very related to one another, especially when it comes to the upper classes of our so called classless society, who, in fact, is going to take anyone to task? How can any financial or political authority in this country ever be taken seriously when we are quite happy to have them or their sons, daughters or inlaws take the top jobs or in fact investigate themselves. Even when you look into the heads of government departments you find friends, inlaws or relations of the major power brokers of the last 20-30 years. I am not one for conspiracy theories, but me thinks one should try and work out which “brothership” the powers that are belong to be they freemason or some other name….

By: Rozanne

Rozanne — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:35:43 +0000

This is probably a very poor comparison, but your PM’s defense of Oddsson reminds me of the time during Hurricane Katrina when Geo. W. Bush stated that the completely unqualified guy (whom he had appointed to head FEMA) was doing a “hellava a job,” when it was obvious to everyone else on the planet that the guy was a major-league bungler. Cronyism, sigh.