Comments on: ‘No’ to Icesave does not damage Iceland’s credit rating

By: gbald

gbald — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:25:10 +0000

@SIReuro

We hear the pigS snort

By: Saethor

Saethor — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:50:25 +0000

To put things in perspective, Your family has a loan, and the debt cannot under the circumstances be paid… Someone takes the burden on their shoulders and pays the debt for you (unasked) and then tells you your debt has been paid full, no problem…. But now you have to pay back with “this much interest rate”? Wich would make the payment so much higher, and in the end no one asked anyone to pay this debt, but under some strange circumstances they did… Yes that would make any briton very very happy. To have their mortgage paid in very high rates because someone chose to pay their debt and then collect with (Regarding to the high amount of loan, versus their income) high interest rate without even asking.

We got proper fu**ed on this Icesave deal as well as you did, ´cause we didn´t have a clue what the hell was going on (the public). We had 3 major banks wich were operating in all of Europe with no problems, or as we thought.
But in the end we felt betrayed by our own businessmen and our own government.

Do we feel we don´t need to pay the debt of the Icesave?
I can´t speak for the my whole nation, but I feel we have to pay what we have to pay, it´s the honest thing to do of course. That´s what I feel we a obligated to do, maybe some disagree, but that´s what we must do in my oppinion, but at that insane interest rate? You must be, as you might say in Britain, bonkers!

That´s just rubbish!

By: Fisy

Fisy — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:10:22 +0000

With all respect to Spanish people, you major banks have been lying about they bad debts and lending more to to zombie property developers.

( Expect write downs of at least 40 % on the Spanish property loans this year as the accounting fiddling cant continue much longer into 2010. )

Iceland will be okay as long as we get rid of the politicains currently in government seats from power this year ( Social Democrats ) and replace with other coaliton.

Need decentralize of the political power in Iceland as whole, and just to get on with making things and service that people outside do want to buy.

It is not more simple than that.

By: Don Franco

Don Franco — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:48:10 +0000

@ SIR NEURO :

9. Wow…Tú eres fuerte! Viva españa! You convinced me, i will move to spain!It is for sure paradise on earth! And you? What are you still doing in such a place like Iceland? Or wait a second, since you are a post graduated student ( even if some times ago you claimed to be a teacher),could it be that the iberian universities, so much better than the Icelandic ones, are too difficult for you?

By: Peter - London/Krakow

Peter - London/Krakow — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:01:46 +0000

“Do you have any links to independent political corruption research to support your opinions on the relative proof of corruption levels re Iceland?”

I simply read your newspapers and read various blogs. I’m sure you can find wonderful reports about the state of Iceland but it obvious its all bull. Iceland is a utterly dysfunctional political society, so much so that they can invent any facts they like to make the country look better. I think North Korea is the closest equivalent, the population there really believe they live in a utopia as well.

By: SIReuro

SIReuro — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:58:05 +0000

1.SPAIN: 9TH STRONGEST ECONOMY IN THE WORLD
ICELAND: WAITING FOR A LOAN FROM THE IMF.

2.SPAIN:UNEMPLOYMENT PENSION 1200 A MONTH ( 220.000 ISK)
ICELAND: 140.000 ISK A MONTH

3.SPAIN: STUDENTS CAN GET UNEMPLOYMENT PENSION AND! 7000 EUROS GRANTSTHEY DONT HAVE TO PAY BACK.

ICELAND: STUDENTS HAVE TO CHOOSE STUDYING WITH A LOAN THEY WILL HAVE TO PAY, OR STOPP STUDYING AND LIVE ON THE UNEMPLOYMENT MONEY.

4. SPAIN: PRICES HAVE INCREASED 1.8 %
ICELAND: PRICES HAVE INCREASED 45%

5. SPAIN: FOREIGN DEBT, LESS THAN 16% OF NATIONAL PRODUCT.
ICELAND: FOREIGN DEBT, NINE TIMES ITS NATIONAL PRODUCT.

6. SPAIN, CURRENCY: THE EURO
ICELAND: THE ICELANDIC KRONA ( NO COMENTS)

7. SPAIN: DIVERSIFIED ECONOMY. NEW TECHNOLOGIES, TOURISM, AGRICULTURE, FISHING, AUTOMOBILE, SPACE INDUSTRY, ETC…
ICELAND: DEPENDING ON EARLY CHAIN PRODUCTS, LOW PROCESSED FISH AND ALUMINIUM.

8. SPAIN: AVERAGE DEBT PER PERSON OVER 18 YEARS: 200.000 ISK
ICELAND: AVERAGE DEBT PER PERSON OVER 18 YEARS: 7 MILLION ISK.

AND THIS LIST COULD GO ON, AND ON, AND ON, AND ON…

By: Knowless

Knowless — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:36:32 +0000

Peter – London/Krakow
“Fisy, you are proving Mike right with his observations about Icelanders. Accusing other countries of being worse is *not* a defence, and there is no way and UK and Norway have anything like the corrupt political system that is being described for Iceland.”

An anecdote is not proof, neither Mike’s anecdotes nor Fisy’s opinion is proof of anything
Maybe in your mind that constitutes proof? To me it constitutes stereotyping.
In Mike’s case his stereotyping lacks even a morsel of objectivity as it peppered with the trademarks of a xenophobe.
Do you have any links to independent political corruption research to support your opinions on the relative proof of corruption levels re Iceland?

By: Don Franco

Don Franco — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:55:13 +0000

SIR NEURO SAID : “WE ARE THE RICHEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD ! ,, HAHAHAHA :D)))”

It would be nice that you stop laughing at the misfortunes of others and begin to think about the economic conditions of your own country, which is not really healthy.
Regards.

By: Niels

Niels — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:08:44 +0000

Peter,
This is a very interesting article you are linking too, well-written as well. Especially the following part, observing the general difference of opinion in icelandic politics and the fact that the country is ruled by a small elite:

”
In a sense this is a battle between those who prefer openness and those who are content with isolation—a theme in the real, not the sanitized, history of Iceland. Much of the ruling class and the opinion makers are home grown, they come from the same schools and the same law department, famous for its lack of intellectual curiosity. In their hearts they consider themselves to be the owners of Iceland, much as the farmer chiefs of the dark ages. They fear that joining the EU would undermine their power.”

I am curious how icelanders think about this characterization.

By: SIR EURO IS BACK

SIR EURO IS BACK — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:19:00 +0000

EASY on my post :“ICELAND IS A COUNTRY RULED BY A POLITICAL CLASS OF FAMILIES AND FRIENDS WHO HAVE, ARE AND WILL ALWAYS LOOK FOR PERSONAL PROFIT. THIS COUNTRY SEEMS TO BE RULED BY FAMILY CLANS. AND POPULATED BY PEOPLE WHO REALLY SEEM TO BE SLEEPING.”

Which country doesn’t?”

TOTALLY TRUE, but there is a line where a country turns into a banana republic… and Iceland has crossed that line by many many miles… now Iceland is in the line of countries like Argentina… Corruption, HUGE debt, ruined economy, fake democracy…

Now icelanders are begging cap in hand, hoping for the IMF and other countries to throw some coins…

WE ARE THE RICHEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD ! ,, HAHAHAHA :D)))

An international famous FREAKS SHOW CIRCUS just closed down and dissolved the other day… They thought they would never be able to compete with icelandic politicians… hahahaha :)))))