Although for a decade or so Iceland had imagined itself to be at the centre of the prosperous world, the crash propelled it back into the remote North Atlantic. Its pride was hurt. Icelanders were conscious that they had been steered incompetently and corruptly into the abyss. Yet the political class showed no remorse. David Oddsson — the head of the central bank, who as prime minister had presided over the privatisation of Iceland’s state-owned banks — was quick to blame the magnate Jon Asgeir and the oligarchs; Jon Asgeir blamed both the US for letting Lehman collapse and Oddsson for not responding intelligently; the Icelandic Government blamed the British Government.
At first glance I was surprised to see the section where the Times placed this article. Then after reading it I understood why. It is yet another spin on the tale that Icelandic women are now cleaning up the mess left by Icelandic males. In that context it is especially disturbing to see Audur Capital mentioned as the only Icelandic investment company that managed to escape the crisis. Halla Tomasdottir, who was very active in the boom years, for example in the Chamber of Commerce that ordered the Mishkin Report and Kristin Petursdottir, former top management of Kaupthing must have the best PR person in the world at their service for the Times is not the first foreign media to eat their story raw. Although the business vikings were mostly males, there were plenty of women at work on the Icelandic economic miracle. Iceland is divided enough as it is, that it does not need such a division between the sexes as well.
Related posts:
Carl Mosconi
2 years ago
I wonder who is involved in this deal.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090930-709518.html