The Icelandic economy is in the crapper since the large national banks tumbled in October. Since then, unemployment is on the rise, inflation as well and the projected GDP-growth for 2009 is negative.
So things are quite bad, but I’ve told you about that before.
To protest this, people have been gathering outside the Parliament building every Saturday since the mess started and up to this week it’s all been peaceful. This week, however, there have been daily clashes between (a minor group of the) protesters and the police with the protesters trying to set Parliament on fire, having thrown rocks and bags of human feces at the police, and being generally rowdy. The police have in turn responded by using tear-gas for the first time since the early 70.s.
Their (I’m talking about the peaceful guys now) main demands have been to have someone take responsibility, dissolve the government, call new elections and for someone to do something undefined which will fix everything (not necessarily in that order).
It’s been an interesting newsweek so far.
But as I was listening to the radio news at noon, they cut to a statement by the Prime Minister. This being the guy most people blame (along with the head of the Central Bank) and who has so far had a pretty condescending attitude towards the whole situation. I’m not saying he hasn’t done anything (he’s done plenty), but he hasn’t been very articulate about it.
Now back to his statement. In it he’s setting a date for national elections (9.th of May) and says he won’t be leading the party through them. Why, we (I and my colleagues) ask ourselves? Turns out the reason is more grim than we thought…
I’m not sure anyone can make sense of my rambling OP, but yeah. It is worrying. But in a weird way, I’m kinda looking forward to see what’ll happen this weekend.
I wouldn’t go as far as saying that Iceland is a precursor to what will happen to the rest of Europe. More like an exaggerated bad example of what might happen.
And it turns out I was a bit off. He’s only suggesting new elections in May; parliament needs to vote on it (which it most likely will do in the beginning of the next week).
And as a further twist to the tale… the leader of the other government party (Social Democrats) has a brain aneurysm and she’s already on sick-leave.
Wow, that’s uncanny. The ex-ex prime minister of Thailand also left with a “By the way, I have cancer” when it was forced out 4 months or so ago. Liver cancer I think.
There was a video of the protesters swarming the PM’s car online yesterday. The security guy looked like he was about to have a stroke himself. There was a vein sticking out in his neck that looked like a hosepipe!
Ireland’s two main banks are also heading into a collapse very soon, according to an article at bloomberg.com. I don’t follow European economies very closely, but the general impression I’m getting is that this sort of thing could sweep into the larger countries very soon.
The weather’s turned for the worse, so things should calm down a bit.
Let’s just say Icelandic security isn’t really used to this. The PM didn’t even HAVE personal protection until October.
The Euro should be big enough to handle most problems; but smaller economies in Eastern Europe (and Iceland obviously) are in for a very hard time and the UK will be very interesting to follow over the next couple of months (in an academic perspective).
Of course you should. There hasn’t been any troubles at all except for those around parliament. Everyone else just goes about their day-to-day business and curses the morons who attacked the police.
Today I’ve read that the experts have lowered the bond ratings for Portugal, Spain, and Greece, with France likely to go next. What it all means, I can’t say.
Brit here: we’re expecting 3M unemployed by the end of the year. :eek: I’ve been told that in my sector (IT), there are currently about 300 applicants per agency per job.
An election will help sooth people in the short term, but I really doubt there will be any difference in the longer perspective. Iceland is toast… yes, toast. NO chance of paying back the loans they need to cover the banking mess, so people will have to come to terms with a quite lower living standard.
One of the most played clips here on the island
Law & Order, to give it a word for word translation. But that’s just the way words are translated here, we try to give everything an Icelandic word instead of loaning one from abroad.
Other examples:
Jeans - Gallabuxur (coverallpants)
TV - Sjónvarp (sightthrower)
Yeah, both of my parents are doctors and they give him 3 years
In for other news. Things seem to have calmed down outside Parliament. No fights last night and only a few hundred peaceful protesters.
And for another very cool twist! The protesters told the police to go inside to get warm and eat something and that they would keep bothersome people away in the meantime (which the police did and which the protesters did). Totally awesome that people aren’t blaming the police for just doing their jobs!!!
And it’s not like some names aren’t more popular than others in the US either 
