Nobody has been able to put an overall price tag on the meltdown, though some estimates run to $10 billion, $30,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. The bank collapse alone is expected to cost taxpayers nearly $3 billion, on top of another $3 billion the government has invested in the [...]

“I am famous in Iceland’s community of 300,000, and two or three months ago I used to have two or three guards with me,” he says, sipping coffee in his lounge. “Now, though, I go where I like. When this was first going on people would cry hostility towards me, but today I get a [...]

a) The election is held to formally authorize the digging of shit b) No one still knows how much shit there is to dig because no one has still managed to stick their head out of the pile to look.  c) It appears that old shit-dispensers are out of fashion. The Progressive Party and the [...]

“The crisis is man-made,” claims banker Halla, 40, who like all Icelanders, is only addressed by her first name. “It’s always the same guys,” she says. “Ninety-nine percent went to the same school, they drive the same cars, they wear the same suits and they have the same attitudes. They got us into this situation [...]

Going to the movies tonight I expected to be moved but I did not think I would be horrified.  The mood after Andri Snaer Magnason’s Dreamland was funeral-like. No surprise, the movie recites the relationship between Iceland and the aluminum giants of the world. On the way to the theater I told my sister that [...]

When arguing against the EU, the political parties scornfully cite Latvia as an example. That the country which is in the EU is facing a similar crisis to the one in Iceland, despite being a member. An interesting point, using the countries differences to make a point.  More interesting to me after listening to the [...]

The pension fund Gildi lost the equivalent of seven years worth of pension payments last year and must cut its payments 10%. This is reported by Ruv, the state broadcasting channel. The loss amounted to 34 billion ISK, a devestating consequence of the economic crash. It would take four years worth of payments into the [...]

For a while, the inrush of capital created the illusion of wealth in these countries, just as it did for American homeowners: asset prices were rising, currencies were strong, and everything looked fine. But bubbles always burst sooner or later, and yesterday’s miracle economies have become today’s basket cases, nations whose assets have evaporated but [...]

Thanks to Vilhjalm A. for pointing out Iris Erlingsdottir’s two articles from the Huffington Post:  At first, the policies appeared to be very successful. The economy grew at a strong pace, rising until Iceland achieved one of the highest per capita GDPs in the world. In 2007 it also topped the score for the United [...]

This post by Andres Jonsson is too good not to mention.  After getting his haircut, he asks if the Icelandic blonde is in danger of extinction. His hairdresser seems to mark some changes in the requests for colouring as it is very expensive.  Contrary to popular belief, there are fewer natural blondes in Iceland than [...]