From the category archives:

interviews

An interview with Eva Joly

June 12, 2009

Two days ago, Eva Joly, the Norwegian-French magistrate hired to advise the Icelandic government on the current [colossal] investigation into the bank collapse, threatened to pull out of the investigation unless two very clear conditions were met. One, that the State Prosecutor step down, as he is unfit on familial grounds [his son is an [...]

Full article →

Writing the kreppa from the inside

June 8, 2009

The first comprehensive book about Iceland’s economic meltdown came out here in Iceland last Thursday [June 5]. It’s entitled HRUNIÐ [THE COLLAPSE] and is a formidable piece of work. The list of sources alone numbers 1,459 and the book is eminently readable, even as events are reported with a cool, almost chilling, accuracy. Its author [...]

Full article →

In Iceland things are never called by their proper names

May 28, 2009

In our latest in a series of interviews we talk to Birgitta Jónsdóttir, poet, activist, and newly-elected MP and party group chairman for the Civic Movement – the political force that grew out of the protests here in Iceland last fall and winter. It was founded a mere nine weeks before the elections and ran [...]

Full article →

I get dizzy trying to understand the sums

March 4, 2009

Yesterday’s post focused on a report on Kastljós a couple of days ago, which raised questions about claims by Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson, the former owner of Landsbanki, concerning the Icesave debacle. The point of contention – whether British authorities had or had not offered to move the Icesave accounts into British jurisdiction – was seized [...]

Full article →

Ministering to the grass root

February 14, 2009

In the fourth in our series of interviews, we speak with entrepreneurial wunderkind Guðjón Már Guðjónsson. In 1990, at the age of 18, he established his first international software company, OZ Communications, a consumer mobile messaging solutions provider that was acquired by Nokia in November 2008. He is a founding partner of a number of [...]

Full article →

We need far more radical changes

February 4, 2009

Our third in a series of interviews featues Icelandic singer/songwriter and activist Hördur Torfason. He is the man behind Raddir fólksins [Voices of the People], a grassroots organization that has planned Saturday demonstrations in downtown Reykjavík since last October. It is largely due to his tireless work and perseverence over the past few weeks that [...]

Full article →

Icelandic democracy is dead

January 21, 2009

In our second in a series of interviews, we speak with Njörður P. Njarðvík, writer and professor emeritus at the University of Iceland. He has written a number of articles in Icelandic newspapers recently harshly criticizing Iceland’s government and parliament, and calling for a new constitution. Note that the interview was taken before the most [...]

Full article →

An interview with Thorvaldur Gylfason

January 14, 2009

Thorvaldur Gylfason is one of Iceland’s most respected economists. He holds a PhD in economics from Princeton University and is currently Professor of Economics at the University of Iceland. He was an economist with the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C. from 1976-1981 and is one of the editors of the European Economic Review. Since [...]

Full article →