Soon after the Icelandic economy collapsed, a special committee was appointed by parliament to investigate the causes of the collapse, assign responsibility, and so on.
[Not to be confused with the Special Prosecutor's Office, which is conducting a criminal investigation into the collapse.]
The report was originally due to be made public a few weeks ago, but was delayed until February 1. At that time the head of the committee grimly warned that the report was extremely bad, adding that they would have to convey “some of the worst news” that anyone could have to convey to a nation.
Just what that means is unclear, but it sure it titillating.
Of course one of the major issues has been to determine just what is to be done with the report when it appears, and today the PM appointed an “independent committee” to deal with the report and make recommendations for improvements in the government administration.
At any rate, you can be sure that we are waiting with bated breath to find out just what the black report contains.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
I just hope that whatever this committee has come up with, it’s constructive. I would think that in their position, it would be awfully tempting to point fingers and get rather vindictive. The Icelandic nation doesn’t need that kind of divisiveness, even if it’s technically true.
If, on the other hand, it can be the first step in reforming the Icelandic procedures for regulating the economy, I’m all for it. The only true crime that Iceland can commit in all of this is failing to learn from it.
Keeping my fingers crossed that this stir up more trouble than it is worth…
Goes from business types “the wind waz against us guvnor” to whoops crookery to embarassing ,where do you go after that. PM independent inquiry still has to deal with Brits and Dutch, as they say in Ireland “We haven’t gone away you know”.
‘Titillating’ could be one description, ominous might be another. “Some of the worst news” a nation would have to hear probably goes beyond who is responsible to what will have to be done to clean up the mess, and suffered in doing so.
Others have expressed the belief that Iceland is suffering the economic consequences of a storm that has yet to fully reach foreign shores. There is probably a fair amount of truth in that. If certain individuals through recklessness and greed helped Iceland off an economic cliff as it were, they were brought up sort by a global economy which could no longer support such Ponzi schemes. That has yet to fully play itself out, and if the first, Iceland won’t be the last to truly suffer.
If aspects of this will be difficult, the citizens of Iceland might take solace in some relative strengths. One is a fairly unified culture, and small one at that. Size is a double-edged sword, and if larger nations have a greater capacity to weather such problems, also less ability in purpose and focusing on what truly matters.
What is the general opinion of the special committee members? Are they all SD & LG?
Hopefully they’re from the Steingrimur Arason end of the political-honesty spectrum.
Icelandic politics hasn’t been dull this past year+. Well, that’s probably not true if you’re immersed in it:
icesaveicesavetaxonsweetsicesaveicsavecorruptionicesaveicesaveicesave.
I’m affraid that it will not contain anything at all, as the colapse will most likely be blamed on some foreign reason, probably the colapse of the american banks. Or something like that, especially considering how “independent” that commitee is..
Bromley – I haven’t slogged through the comments on Eyjan to see what people think of this, but the five members of the committee don’t have any obvious political affiliations. Four of them are university professors, and one is a lawyer.
The big question is whether it will be published unedited. Ladbrokes would probably give 1000000:1 against.
It sounds like a decent script for Hollywood thriller.
“State of Play Reimagined” with Russel Crowe.
Thanks Alda. Sounds promising.
James, given the leaky nature of Icelandic politics, I doubt it would stay suppressed for long
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To support the NO to the Debt .
To read and translate from French and other text in English on
http://www.mondialisation.ca
This in French
http://www.mondialisation.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16951
Regards
Just seen an article on the Grapevinve by Egill.
“The moment of truth should come on February 1st, when a special committee, appointed by Alþingi, will deliver a 1.500 page report on the collapse. The members of the committee are still held in a measure of respect by the public, but it must be noted that two of them are also members of the old guard: one being the parliamentary ombudsman, the other a judge of the High Court who, as a law professor, used to do a lot of work for the former government. The third is a relatively unknown Harvard-trained economist.”
http://www.grapevine.is/Features/ReadArticle/Egill-Helgason-Cleaning-Up-The-Mess
A thought occurs to me in connection with the black report. It was originally intended to be published much earlier, I think in November and publication was postponed very shortly before publication date. Now we have the government appointing a commission to determine how to react to the report when it is ‘published’.
One naturally wonders whether the report is in fact already complete, and may well have been in time for the original publication date but that the powers that be have postponed publication in order for a) the nation to lose interest and/or b) themselves to have time to work out a plan of how to deal with the findings of the report.
Any comments?
Or they postpone the publication so that the results are fresh when the municipal elections come along?
The report has been delayed again:
http://visir.is/article/20100125/FRETTIR01/204948258
One might almost say ‘I told you so’!