Iceland’s disposable class

 I went down to the immigration office last week to finally get my permanent residency permit. But I was horrified when the woman behind the glass partition told me the laws had been changed and I would not be eligible for a permanent residency permit—in fact, I would not be eligible for any permit.

Despite the fact that I am in a registered relationship with an Icelandic citizen, own a house and car here and have been an active taxpayer for the last six years, I am no longer needed. Because it is best for the economy if all the superfluous people left the country, my life here is being revoked. Canceled. Return to sender. Go back to wherever you came from.

From Iceland Review

 

One of many

One of the many Icelandic businesses in trouble, Penninn is likely to be taken over by Kaupthing in the next few days. 

Penninn is the largest bookstore and office supplier in Iceland. It also owns lifestyle stores Habitat and Saltfelagid that have now been shut down. 

More than 500 people work for Penninn and its various businesses in Iceland.

Bankrupt Iceland

In the last five weeks 130 Icelandic companies have gone bankrupt according to CreditInfo. 

In a conversation with mbl.is, Omar Berg Torfason, an expert at CreditInfo predicts that 9-10 companies will go out of business every day this year.

The Hubris Syndrome

After watching Geir Haarde and Ingibjorg Solrun in action for the past few months my mother purchased this book. 

The Hubris Syndrome: Bush, Blair and the intoxication of power

“Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad, according to Euripides. And Lord Owen would agree. His new book blames the fiasco in Iraq on psychological failings in George Bush and Tony Blair – failings Owen dubs “the hubris syndrome”.Leaders suffering from hubris are usually emboldened by early successes, Owen explains – in Blair’s case, the intervention in Kosovo. They start to believe themselves capable of anything. “This excessive self-confidence leads them into misinterpreting the reality around them and into making mistakes. Eventually,” he writes, “they get their comeuppance and meet their nemesis, which destroys them.”

From an interview in The Guardian

Member of Central Bank board quits

Valgerdur Bjarnadottir, a member of the Central Bank board has resigned, stating that she cannot attend meetings that are run by people who sit in their positions against the will of their nation.

Finance minister wants to abolish price-indexation

Finance Minister Steingrimur J. Sigfusson told a citizen’s meeting this week that he wants to abolish the price-indexation. 

Which would be massively beneficial for Icelandic households. 

But only when inflation has gone down. 

Sounds like a campaign promise.

The farce this time…

You might remember that last week the Independent Party published Geir Haarde’s emails with Paul Thomsen at the IMF. They were supposed to show the nation that the new government was keeping the IMF’s reports secret, i.e. not sharing the important information with the people. 

Now it has been revealed that Paul Thomsen has sent Geir an email where he says that he might not have been clear enough the first time around but the IMF has instructed the government to not share its findings at the moment. 

After this airball, Geir was asked by Frettabladid whether he regretted that he had accused Johanna Sigurdardottir of lying in the proceedings. From his sandbox he said, “This is a mistake and he says it so himself that this wasn’t clear enough. Johanna and others in the government have said worse things so it is not up to me to say sorry. Absolutely not.”

Meanwhile unemployment rises steadily and is now 15.698. 

In Geir’s defence it apparantly hurts to lose power after more than a decade in government. Bjorn Bjarnason, former Minister of Justice thinks that the Foreign Ministry should control all visits of media to the president and have someone present. This after the German fiasco where Olafur Ragnar Grimsson told the country’s savers that their money in Icelandic banks would not be paid out. 

Maybe Bjorn has a point. To create jobs Iceland could install a real Censorship Council to control what people can and cannot say. After the Independent Party brought us to the doorsteps of Russia, it might as well take us all the way to North Korea. 

Meanwhile, reports of violence being used to collect debts are rising. And with the fall of the krona and the currency trade restrictions in place, those who earn their money from the illegal drugs trade are inclined to invest it here. 

But Bjorn has other things to think about.

Iceland: ‘No Promises Over Council Payouts’

Speaking on Sky’s Jeff Randall Live Gylfi Magnusson said: “They, as all other creditors of the collapsed Icelandic banks, will unfortunately have to wait until we have sold the assets of the collapsed banks.

“Unfortunately this takes time and a lot of creditors will not be paid back in full.”

Video at Sky

If he were a politician

Bjorn Jorundur, a respected musician and one of the judges of the Icelandic Idol (plays the Simon part) has admitted to purchasing drugs a year ago. He says he is sorry, knows he made a mistake and asks for forgiveness and understanding. He hopes this mistake doesn’t cast a shadow on the things he’s been successful at. 

In a brilliant comment, blogger Bergsteinn Sigurdsson notes that if Bjorn Jorundur were an Icelandic politician then he would have “published a statement where he regrets that his drug-dealings are portrayed in a suspicious light”.