Posts tagged as:

Geir Haarde

Machinations of the shadow elite

October 14, 2010

A new article in the Huffington Post by economist Robert Wade from the LSE and Sigurbjörg [Silla] Sigurgeirsdóttir from the U of Iceland is a chilling read. It gives a pretty concise account of the machinations of the Independence Party and their cronies in the lead-up to the meltdown, and proves how a handful of [...]

Full article →

Two years on: where is the New Iceland?

October 6, 2010

Two years ago, almost to the hour, then-PM Geir Haarde went on Icelandic state television and addressed the nation with the aim of enlightening us as to what was going on with the Icelandic banks. The previous weekend had seen incessant comings-and-goings of the main players in the banking sector at the government’s official meeting [...]

Full article →

And all the animals in the zoo shall be enemies*

September 30, 2010

Well, the dust is settling after the uproar of a couple of days ago, when parliament voted to indict former PM Geir Haarde for his involvement in the economic collapse. It’s amazing to observe just how emotional the whole matter is for the Icelandic people — it clearly touches the rawest, most sensitive nerve running [...]

Full article →

Parliamentary committee recommends indictments for ex-PM and others

September 12, 2010

Some pretty big news yesterday. A parliamentary committee, appointed to recommend whether or not any public officials should be indicted as a result of their involvement in the economic collapse in 2008, delivered its findings yesterday afternoon. There had been a fair bit of tension beforehand, particularly as it was known that the committee — [...]

Full article →

The Dirty Dozen

February 12, 2010

As many readers know, we Nicelanders are waiting with bated breath these days for the release of the Black Report – the outcome of the investigation into the bank collapse by a specially-appointed parliamentary committee. The report was delayed at the beginning of February, among other things because high-ranking officials implicated in the report were [...]

Full article →

Maybe I Should Have, aka Follow the Money

January 23, 2010

A couple of nights ago we went to the premiere of a new Icelandic film about the collapse called Maybe I Should Have. The title is a throwback to a remark that then-PM Geir H. Haarde made on the programme Hard Talk last year. The host asked why he had not called Gordon Brown when [...]

Full article →

The Icelandic Press Photography Prize

January 17, 2010

A reader sent me a link to an interesting article written by a [non-Icelandic] panel member for the 2009 Icelandic press photography prize [thanks Bill!]. Make sure they pay upfront… no-one could resist a wisecrack when I was invited to lead the jury for Icelandic Press Photography Prize 2009. Arguably, there’s never been a more [...]

Full article →

Our review of the kreppa books and reviews

October 10, 2009

So I’ve been back in Iceland since Wednesday and, as is always the case when I don’t post for a few days, I start to suffer from writer’s block. Not because I don’t have anything to say – but because I have too much to say and I have such a hard time choosing. I’ll [...]

Full article →