Iceland's citizens to stiffen government's spine and stand up to bullies

[barrym]

From EUobserver / Icelandic report on the crash finds web of greed, negligence

"A 2,300-page report by a Special Investigation Commission of Iceland's Althingi, the north Atlantic island's parliament, published on Monday (12 April) is scathing in its criticisms notably of former prime minister Geir Haarde, the chairman of the central bank, David Oddsson (the architect of the privatisation of the banking sector in the 1990s), finance and commerce ministers, central bank governors and the chief financial regulator."

Do you recognise the dramatis personae??

How do we manage to borrow when we have the same scenario?

I suppose it's cos we have no report/criticism and the ECB is our banker.

BTW, I'd say the Icelanders will recover quicker than us, they are a)pissed off and the gov recognises it b) honest enough to get the report out already and c) hard working and realistic.

[Sync]

How do we manage to borrow when we have the same scenario? I suppose it's cos we have no report/criticism and the ECB is our banker.

Because we have a record of paying our debts. Iceland have a record of not paying their debts. That's why they can't get IMF money ay the moment.

BTW, I'd say the Icelanders will recover quicker than us, they are a)pissed off and the gov recognises it b) honest enough to get the report out already and c) hard working and realistic.

Aside from the fact that they have no access to loans, no trust within the lending community, need the IMF to come in and have done serious damage to their prospects of EU membership.

How does being hacked off make you more likely to recover?

[WTTR]

From EUobserver / Icelandic report on the crash finds web of greed, negligence

"A 2,300-page report by a Special Investigation Commission of Iceland's Althingi, the north Atlantic island's parliament, published on Monday (12 April) is scathing in its criticisms notably of former prime minister Geir Haarde, the chairman of the central bank, David Oddsson (the architect of the privatisation of the banking sector in the 1990s), finance and commerce ministers, central bank governors and the chief financial regulator."

Do you recognise the dramatis personae??

How do we manage to borrow when we have the same scenario?

I suppose it's cos we have no report/criticism and the ECB is our banker.

BTW, I'd say the Icelanders will recover quicker than us, they are a)pissed off and the gov recognises it b) honest enough to get the report out already and c) hard working and realistic.

Interesting summary of the above released today

Iceland’s special investigation: The plot thickens
Thorvaldur Gylfason
30 April 2010

What brought down Iceland’s banks? This column examines the revelations from the latest report from the Icelandic parliament, raising the possibility that the collapse of Iceland’s three largest banks is the result of “control fraud” where shareholders stole from their own bank in the same way as those convicted of looting from the American saving and loan banks in the late 1980s.

More gold, anyone?
The SIC was granted full access to the records of the banks. Thus, it was able to report that, of 63 Members of Parliament, ten owed the failed banks €1 million or more each at the pre-crash exchange rate of the króna; their personal debts range from €1 million to €40 million. The average debt of the ten MPs, including the leader of the Independence Party, his deputy, and five other party comrades, was €9 million. (This is not a misprint.) The Independence Party has been in government 90% of the time since 1944. Most of these loans were heads-I-win-tails-you lose as they were granted mostly to finance equity purchases with the equities themselves as sole collateral. Besides, the banks and affiliated companies had paid the political parties and candidates large sums before the crash.
Iceland?s special investigation: The plot thickens | vox - Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists

[He3]

Elaine Byrne report on Prime Time looks good.

[He3]

The nation had to come out and express themselves. The people in the driving seat did not see there was ruin ahead, says one contributer.

Byrne points out their Inquiry named names. Ours won't.

[de other fella]

The nation had to come out and express themselves. The people in the driving seat did not see there was ruin ahead, says one contributer.

Byrne points out [SIZE="4"]their Inquiry named names.[/SIZE] [SIZE="4"]Ours won't.[/SIZE]

and therein lies the predicament.
That would tell all who really owns Ireland Inc.

[MPB]

and therein lies the predicament.
That would tell all who really owns Ireland Inc.

The big difference with the Inquiry in Iceland, compared to here is that the Icelandic Inquiry was set up by a new Govt.

So there was no willingness to try and hide the corruption and criminal activity that took place.

[barrym]

The big difference with the Inquiry in Iceland, compared to here is that the Icelandic Inquiry was set up by a new Govt.

So there was no willingness to try and hide the corruption and criminal activity that took place.

+1

I was in Iceland last Summer. The general impression I had was that the people were determined to lay the blame BUT, they are getting on with sorting things out (they hadn't much choice, things were on the floor, the guy managing our hostel who had saved to open his own one lost everyhing...)

The most interesting thing was cash is king, no one wanted a cc, we couldn't find a hire car but the same manager 'loaned' us his....

IMO, we need a change of regime, if only to get a change of attitude. In addition we need to change the law that 'requires' anonymity, we are dragged down all the time by the 'opinion' of the attorney gen that.... whatever, means no one will be named.

[Half Nelson]

Our failure to investigate should be named for what it is - a coverup.
Our government has mortgaged our grandchildren without an analysis of what went wrong. That is tantamount to criminal negligence.

Before long the one-letter difference will be with Shetland.

[Clanrickard]

How does being hacked off make you more likely to recover?

You are correct as you have been throughout this thread. This is another thread where the perpetually angry can vent yet more at the mythical bankers and developers etc etc blah blah. Sticking your two fingers up at the international community may make you feel good and it will get you glowing reviews by smoked salmon socialist journalists but at the end of the day you will still be left without a pot to piss in.