6 Comments → “Right Now”

1. 
   

   Vilhjalm A.
   

   7 months ago

   I think Dadi is referring to all the the debt write-downs and giveaways the bank committees have been making, the “Spillingin í bönkunum”. Eyjan, Silfur-Egill and Lara Hana have published a number of articles on this and Egill and Jon Steinsson (the Icelandic economist in New York) discussed the subject on Silfur in December — see Lara Hana’s blog for details (I don’t know if these scandals have been reported in English yet, probably not). The latest scandal is the appointment of the “Icesave Architect”, one Steinthor Baldursson, to oversee several companies taken over by the government.
   These write-downs are truly disturbing and sickening, and what is worse is that they are done almost in plain view of the Icelandic public. None of the Althingi members has done anything to stop it, and few (except Lilja Mosesdottir) have spoken about it publicly.
   Iceland.talks just reported on the Mother of All Write-Offs, the $10 billion of loans written off by the Landsbanki Insolvency Committee. Absolutely incredible.
2. 
   

   Dadi
   

   7 months ago

   Too right Vilhjalm A.

   Add to it the scandal of the solutions on offer by the banks for homeowners are especially designed for a certain kind of debtor.

   That certain kind of debtor are homeowners who borrowed heavily while they were on more than decent wages, in other words…employees of the former banks…
3. 
   

   Carl Mosconi
   

   7 months ago

   I have been more or less opposed to the “life in prison with no chance of parole” sentence but would definitely make an exception in the case of the criminals that put Iceland in this spot! These bastards deserve no mercy!
4. 
   

   Boggi
   

   7 months ago

   And the politicians that are protecting them too. I dont understand why some people belive that “this goberment” is any different than the other, they are all and the same, warking for the same people.
5. 
   

   Blubber
   

   7 months ago

   Disturbing, disgusting, perverse.
6. 
   

   Vilhjalm A.
   

   6 months ago

   It is almost funny that the Icelandic government is now trying to take a different approach and argue (courtesy of the latest foreign-celebrity-adviser-of the month, Lee Buchheit) that the Icesave and other debts were “odious debts”, which are suspicious debts taken on by some agent of the government and thus should not be repaid.
   The problem with this argument is that the debts were not incurred by some terrible dictator or apartheid regime — no, the debts were approved by many of the same employees currently in government jobs or Althingi, and incurred by the businessmen (Olafur Olafsson et al) who are now being showered with debt write-offs and new executive jobs by government-run bank committees!
   You will hear howls of laughter in the foreign offices in Britain, NL and Brussels when Iceland tries out this new argument.

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