“Oh my God, I wouldn’t want to be in the position they are in,” said Icelandic Minister of Finance Steingrimur J. Sigfusson to Bloomberg. In the interview he said he believes Iceland avoided Greece’s fate partly because it has its own currency.
“The Greek position is very different to that which Iceland was or is in,” Sigfusson said. “Greece has the euro and we could debate whether that’s good for them at the moment.”
“The sovereign debt crisis will mark the political debate of the years to come,” Sigfusson said. “What lies ahead for the world is to sober up.”
Sigfusson told Bloomberg that the likelihood of an Icelandic default has all but disappeared now that the IMF has paid out on the second tranche of its loan package to the country. “I am optimistic that we will not need all the 4.6 billion dollars that the IMF programme allows for,” Sigfusson said.
The minister said he would like to see financial practices like derivatives and credit default swaps prohibited. Such practices do nothing for the economy as a whole, he said.
what the icelandic finance minister should be really be saying, is thank christ we’re not in the eu, let alone the dreaded euro, don’t join neither! keep your independence.
A realization ? Is EEC membership then the solution of Iceland’s problem at this time ? Would it not be possible to give sufficient time for Iceland to make the necessary internal changes, recover first, be stable for readiness to the membership ?
Iceland is small in area and population with limited resources and it seems the present situation is an aggravating circumstances to facilitate immediate recovery or is begging the final solution ?
Haste is waste and what is done can never be undone. Time is of the essence. Secured future atmost for generations to come. The best heritage. Anything more ? Just thinking.
Greece got a bailout, membership of the Euro made it almost compulsory whereas Iceland had to beg to get the IMF loan. Greece will also get as much support as it wants, it will have to internally depreciate which will be very painful.
I’d prefer to be in Greece’s situation, at least they have a currency.
Greece and Spain won’t pay back. This was a calculated Risk, and a Lesson for the Banking System. What is happening in Greece, is a very well orchestrated show, to get granted €110bn aid, to avert meltdown.
The only thing Germans can do is:
REPOSSESS 170 Leopard 2AEX Battle Tanks from Greece, and 190 Leopard 2A6E Battle Tanks from Spain.
U.S.A must REPOSSESS 170 F-16 Jet Fighters from Greece, … the rest is gone with the wind …forever …
Greece must stop paying lucrative pensions with borrowed money, reform the free health care system, and cut down, 4 times the military budged.
Greece’s problem is too much debt. Greece has a budget deficit of 12.7% of GDP – meaning that the country is spending 12.7% more than the value of one year’s economic output.
Greece is no different to a serial credit card borrower who can’t pay back his loans. But just like a serial credit card borrower, as long as Greece keeps relying on borrowed money to fund itself, the problem won’t go away. It will just get worse.
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/Greece-in-Default-on-U-214-Submarine-Order-05801/
But don’t worry; the ECB, the Fed or both will print the money.
And all of us will share the pain, with our hard-earned money.
Bad is never good until worse happens.
Despite of everything that’s happening, Germany and France are still selling arms to Greece, using the crisis as leverage to sell all kinds of stuff and make deals, this shows how hopless recovery is and how rotten the EU is.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62M1Q520100323
>what the icelandic finance minister should be really be saying, is thank christ
>we’re not in the eu, let alone the dreaded euro, don’t join neither! keep your
>independence.
Steingrímur cant say that even though he believes it ( apparently although you would never know it from recent times ) because it will offend his current government coaltion parners the ” EU at any cost ” Social Democrats.
Do not worry there is not a chance that Icelanders will vote to join the EU any time soon.
In fact polls do show consistently that Icelanders do want the current EU application with drawn,
and sentiment is so much clearly in this direction that amazingly pro EU spiritual leader of one part of the Social Democrats has come and said so explicitly in last months (Ingibjörg Sólrún http://www.visir.is/article/2010446593667 ).
But this is not a surprise to any one that bothers to ask Icelandic people what they want in this area.
What is a surprise to me is still why UK people put up with being in EU instead of going back to be a member of EFTA like us. After all UK founded EFTA in 1960.
What reasons does Britain have to stay in EU after Lisbon Treaty was passed ? Will some one please explain it.
( Things are just getting worse not better since the Greek bailout in this area. )
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100020456/ten-reasons-to-leave-the-eu/
Fisy,
Mr. Hannan is not exactly to be taken seriously but here is some reading that you will like, from the international edition of der Spiegel:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,692666,00.html
Thank you for the link there Niels. Always interesting things you bring up.
>Mr. Hannan is not exactly to be taken seriously
I would not be so sure because many of his and Douglas Carswell policies from they book ” The Plan ” made it into the David Cameron policies now being put into practice now in UK under Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition :
http://books.google.com/books?id=LJ5aYhMYRCsC&lpg=PP1&ots=N_GDvS-hgq&dq=The%20Plan%3A%20Twelve%20months%20to%20renew%20Britain&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false
A big difference between Iceland and the EU countries’ response to the crisis is that Iceland has not blindly guaranteed all debt (couldn’t anyway). For the most part, the old Iceland bank creditors have to pursue debt recovery themselves, like we see with the Glitner moves against boy wonder.
Once a bubble bursts, a State faces a hard choice of either saving the currency or saving the economy, saving both is not a runner. I don’t understand the thinking behind the moves to save the Euro currency by increasing the debt/printing money. No wonder it did not work.
When the crisis hit, both Ireland and Denmark broke all considered advice and guaranteed existing unsecured bank bond debt. Ireland went further and also guaranteed high risk covered bonds and even higher risk subordinated debt.
The EU economy will surely stagnate as the burden of debt falls on the States. Budgets will be squeezed and tax revenue will go pay off debt. Without currency controls, like Icelanders are familiar with, capital will fly out of the Euro zone in line with higher taxes.
The Germans should preside over an organised departure from the Euro before it collapses in chaos.