You were quite right. Good prediction. How about some stock market tips?

So does “Eyjafjallajökull” translate as “Posh Spice”?

As an outsider, it does seem that Icelandic law has not yet caught up with financial matters in the 21st century. Having a law to seize assets will be a considerable advantage. I think your legislators have a lot to do (and it has to be said, are proceeding at a glacial pace!).

Reading the article, it looks like he did exactly what bankers and company CEOs were doing here. However, it seems that Icelandic legislation is so lax in these matters that prosecuting them will be near impossible?

Still not convinced about Heath Ledger… We haven’t even mentioned Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan yet either

The bankers in Britain are still getting big bonuses too, but at least their firms have to pay a 50% supertax on them.

I think the Irish have the right idea, they have just arrested one of their bankers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8573972.stm

But what about the role of Brittany Spears in the economic meltdown? ”

Clearly the infamous head shaving incident was too much for the economy to handle. But the real break came with Mr Ledger’s untimely death.

I shudder to think what will happen now that Beckham is most likely out of play this summer.
Complete and utter mayhem is sure to follow.

But what about the role of Brittany Spears in the economic meltdown?

Housing relief was always going to include an element of those with savings or in employment bailing out those that were “a little heedless”. Although I accept that there may well be better ways of doing it.

Here’s what the government proposes to do:

- sérstök úrræði fyrir þá sem eru tekjulágir eða hafa orðið fyrir tímabundnu tekjufalli
- úrræði fyrir fólk með tvær eignir
- enn lægra hámark á dráttarvexti
- við nauðungarsölur verður markaðsvirði eigna dregið frá kröfu
- fólki gert kleift að búa í húsnæði í 12 mánuði þrátt fyrir nauðungarsölu/gjaldþrot
- hámarksfjárhæðir innheimtukostnaðar takmarkaðar enn frekar
- reglur um niðurfellingu skattkrafna endurskoðaðar
- hóflegar skuldbreytingar skattfrjálsar
- stórfelldar niðurfellingar skattlagðar
- dregið úr vægi verðtryggingar

The average employed working Icelander with a mortgage gets ….. just about nothing. No reduction / write-down of the mortgage principal. No way to negotiate with the banks, except by filing a lawsuit against them.
But if you own TWO homes, congratulations, you get relief – just give back one of the houses!

See the critical article by Samtök lánþega blog, entitled “Ekki neitt !”:
http://gandri.com/?p=885

Ekkert er þar umfram þegar skilgreind úrræði um leiðréttingu á höfuðstól íbúðarlána.
Ekkert er þar að finna um aðgerðir til að þvinga fjármálafyrirtæki til að fara að lögum.
Ekkert er þar að finna um skyldu aðila til að túlka samningsatriði sem lagaleg óvissa ríkir um, neytendum í hag svo sem skýrt er kveðið á um í lögum.
Ekkert er þar að finna um aðgerðir til að stöðva nú þegar innheimtuaðgerðir sem byggja á samningum sem dæmdir hafa verið ólöglegir fyrir íslenskum dómstólum.
Ekkert er þar að finna um flýtimeðferð á þeim málum sem bíða úrlausnar Hæstaréttar.
Ekkert er þar að finna um hugmyndir einstakra þingmanna um svokallað lyklafrumvarp.
Ekkert er þar að finna um hugmyndir einstakra þingmanna um lækkaðan fyrningartíma gjaldþrots einstaklinga úr 10 árum í 4.

In the meantime the banks are happily handing out huge loan write-downs to businesses and granting themselves salary bonuses.

I don’t think it’s possible any longer to pretend that the government has some secret plan or motive to help the average Icelander. And the do-nothing strategy is not the result of ineptitude, either. It’s looking more and more likely that the real intention of the government is to reduce the need for imports by depriving the average person of almost all available discretionary spending, first by increasing taxes on everything and second by making them spend almost all their money on paying off loans to the banks. You can’t spend what you don’t have.