Predictably, social media sites are all aflutter with Icelanders variously expressing their indignation or jubilation.
Here are a couple of Facebook statuses that have been making the rounds on my friends list.
Gerard van Vliet [best frienf of InDefence] says in Telegraaf that a new opportunity has now opened up. The governments of Iceland and Holland can join forces in a new agreement where Iceland’s energy fields and fishing grounds will be used to pay the debt. Thanks, InDefence! Thanks all of you who signed your names there!
… Meanwhile, someone has written a comment to the above, to this effect:
A more exact translation: Van Vliet wants the Dutch government to help Iceland and look for collaboration in various fields, such as fish processing, energy and banking. The provisos to the agreement must also be reconsidered, in order for the nation to be able to shoulder the burden now being placed on it. “The sooner Iceland can stand on its own two feet, the sooner it will be able to pay back the loans.”
Another status making the rounds:
Bos, The Netherlands’ Finance Minister, says in the web edition of de Volksrant: “It is impossible to depend on Iceland. We are good enough to lend them money when they are in desperate need, but when it comes to repayment, Icelanders turn their backs. I would like The Netherlands to discuss with the other European nations whether the time has not come to review the free trade agreement with Iceland.
[Incidentally, it transpired that the comment was not made by the Dutch FM but rather a member of the opposition party in parliament.]
… Meanwhile, I hope Björgólfur Thor Bjórgólfsson, Sigurjón Árnason and the rest of the geniuses behind Icesave are feeling happy and content as the nation is sucked into the black hole that their “pure genius” has become.
* Former Landsbanki CEO Sigurjón Árnason once famously remarked that the Icesave accounts he masterminded were “pure genius. All I have to do is look at the end of the day to see how much money has come in,” adding, with a laugh, “50 million pounds came in just last Friday.”
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s a very dark day for Iceland, as many Icelanders see this issue in such an emotional and conspiritorial context. The government who had hoped to move on in 2010 are now crippled after so much work by a man whos last veto, was a media bill to limit Baugur, and whos most profound statement pre-kreppa was ‘you ain’t seen nothing yet’. Instead of supporting an imperfect foundation, he has nuked Iceland!
An idiot of epic proportions, and a temporary hero in the mould of utrasavikingur, whos fall from grace will be matched by Oli the Idiot.
Well, Iceland was starting to slowly emerge from the *mud*, and then… splash !
we should not forget Icelandic Former bankers Flee to the UK and keep doing biz..
And the public seem to be Icelands side in this matter .. according to this
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jan/05/iceland-president-blocks-icesave-compensation?showallcomments=true#comment-51
Peter – had an Icesave account did we? After all the warnings on Moneyweek? Why should Icelanders have to pay for the folly of others? Why should they bail out a bank. Losses should never be socialised. The best thing Iceland could so is simply get rid of currency restrictions (if any are still left) , allow the economy to find its level and it will start correcting itself upward. Iceland doesn’t need the EU, it has natural resources and there is market for that to the East.
I still don’t understand why there is any difference between Icesave and Ponzi Scheme, and why the whole thing isn’t treated as a criminal enterprise disguised as a bank. I guess I know the answer, but it’s still sad.
Instead of being viewed as a dark day for Iceland, couldn’t it be viewed as potentially setting an important precedent to other nations if there is a national referendum on whether/how massive debt caused by idiotic bankers should be socialized? Compare to, for example, the massive bailouts in the US that Congress and President Obama signed off on as though they were merely signing Christmas cards?
There is a huge difference between agreeing to pay back on these enormous debts and trying to figure out a way to do so in a manner that is fair for all parties involved. Obviously, Icelanders are on the short end of the stick here in even the best of scenarios, but the fact that the President has put the matter back on the table for further negotiations suggests that there are better options available than the ones proposed. I’m completely confused by the terms of the agreement, so it’s possible I have no idea what I’m talking about.
Thanks for linking the names to photos – helps those of us who came late into the game that is Iceland to know who it is to show disdain to if ever one should ever encounter them again on this fair isle.
sigga, there is a nice site linking names to photos
http://www.hvitbok.vg/
These are people on either side of the kreppa, so don’t show disdain to all of them.
Everyone else has put their various cases better than I can possibly do. So, instead, here is a little story. As a kid, my friends and I had a little game. One of our houses had a garage. Behind the garage was a strip of concrete, and behind that was a large, grassy garden. The game that we played involved climbing on the garage and then running like Hell towards the garden. If we had enough momentum then we would land on the garden. If we didn’t…then it was the concrete strip and a long stay in hospital getting our legs put back together. Right now, Iceland has left the garage roof and is in mid-air. I sincerely pray that the next sensation it has is the feel of soft,wet grass under its feet.
“I still don’t understand why there is any difference between Icesave and Ponzi Scheme”
There isn’t any difference: Icesave was a Ponzi scheme.
“and why the whole thing isn’t treated as a criminal enterprise disguised as a bank”
It is being treated as an enterprise suspected of criminal activity: the fraud and other criminal investigations are ongoing.
However, it was also an organisation licenced, regulated and guaranteed by the Icelandic state to perform services on behalf of its citizens. So, I guess the Independence Party should be prosecuted for aiding and abetting organised crime.
Dear Alda, there is one small but not irrelevant mistake in one of your quotes: it wasn’t our Finance Minister Bos who made the remarks regarding throwing Iceland out of the EFTA, but a member of parliament of the VVD (an opposition party in Dutch parliament). This makes the statement a lot less threatening, since the remark is not an official point of view of the Dutch government…
Arjan – thanks for that. I saw that just after I posted the translation of the status. However, it wasn’t my opinion I was posting, but verbatim what someone else had written, so I didn’t change it.
However, I think I’ll make a note now.
there are polls going on the web.. the main quateion there is should Iceland pay. (well we have decided to pay so thats no question but)
Should we have to pay ? is that the legal out come ? are we bound by some laws or regulations to pay ?
the brits and the dutch do not want to go there because thats not a fight they are sure to win. So they just tried to attack our ecenomy instead with threats and bullshit demands.
The government at the time did the mistake to says straigt out that we would pay no questions asked . This is the thanks we get.
The public knows we have always said we ware going to pay it’s politicians of britain and holend that claim were not going to pay and by doing so make every thing very hard for us The Icelandic people. and makes it harder for us to pay the debt we have already decided that has to be paid.
below are some polls of the net that show the public views
wallstreet journal website..
http://online.wsj.com/community/groups/europes-question-day-695/topics/should-iceland-compensate-uk-depositors
and the guardian website….
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/poll/2010/jan/06/should-iceland-repay-icesave-debt
It’s mind-boggling that this doesn’t light a fire under the arse of every Icelander to STRING UP those responsible, strip them of any immunity and citizenship for that matter, issue EuroPol notices for their arrest, freeze all assets, take family members hostage, whatever it takes! Sadly, the sheep-like behavior that I so often observed when living there seems to still be in force… gah…
all those bigg dudes are long gone ..they all live and still work in the investment biz in …guess where … The great united kingdom .. why don’t they go after them instead of us