Posts Tagged ‘ bailout ’

Iceland Was Right, We Were Wrong: The IMF (by Jeff Nielson)

September 5, 2012
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Jeff Nielson has published an article well worth reading on the global financial crisis and its economic consequences. Originally published in The Street, the article explains the alternative strategy Iceland implemented to combat it’s dire situation after the financial meltdown and concludes that Iceland was not only different but right, which in turn suggests that everyone else was wrong. The following is a selection of paragraphs from the full article, which can be found here: Now in what may be the greatest economic “mea culpa” in history, we have the media admitting that this government/banking/propaganda-machine troika has been wrong all along. They have…

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Iceland’s president explains why the world needs to rethink its addiction to finance

April 27, 2012
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A few days ago, Adam Taylor, journalist for the Business Insider interviewed Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, who has been President of Iceland since 1996, and announced last month he would be running for a fifth term. Keep reading to hear his thoughts on Iceland’s recovery, and how a large financial sector can ruin a nation. Ragnar Grímsson connects the dots in a openly manner that unfortunately proves to be very rare in contemporary politics all around the world. Definitely a must-read. You can find the full transcript on Business Insider. Some noteworthy paragraphs: Whereas in many other countries, until recent months,…

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Was bailout the only option?

March 9, 2012
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Apparently not, as Iceland proves to be very successful with its 110 percent rule.  Due to this rule, Icelandic households were forgiven of debt exceeding 110 percent of home values. On top of that, a Supreme Court ruling in June 2010 found loans indexed to foreign currencies were illegal, meaning households no longer needed to cover krona losses. The decision to reject foreign debt deals, causing harsh criticism from abroad, seems to have paid off. Here are some quotes from a Bloomberg article on this matter written by Omar R. Valdimarsson: “You could safely say that Iceland holds the world record in household debt relief,” said Lars…

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