The trouble with politicians in Iceland is that they have managed to get away with it all for a long time and many still think they do. Gunnar Birgisson, mayor of Kopavogur, Reykjavik’s largest satellite and former chairman of the board at the Icelandic Student Loan Association is being accused of having directed work from [...]

From the Independence Party convention So why did one Icelander in five think that the Independence Party was the right party to get the country out of the economic mess it is in?  Akin to giving the drunkest person at a party the keys to your car to drive you home, it may sound ridiculous. [...]

Russian style privatisation and rapid deregulation lead to exponential growth of the financial sector. In less than a decade, Iceland went from a resource-based economy, dependant on fisheries and geo-thermal energy, to a financial giant. We were all taken by surprise: where did the money come from? The answer came in October. We were living [...]

I am getting tired of talking about the Independence Party but they seem intent on hogging the headlines with one misguided step after another. Now Bjarni Benediktsson is plastered across bus-stops and full-page ads promising voters that Iceland could adopt the Euro through the IMF without entering the EU. This without putting forth any evidence [...]

Today DV.is quotes Gunnar Birgisson, Independence Party major of Kopavogur, Iceland’s second biggest town after Reykjavik as saying “even though she is my daughter she should not be punished for it”. The reason is that the Social Democrats in the town council have requested explanations for the accusations that keep coming up about Gunnar’s daughter’s [...]

  So what happened at Glitnir’s Fund 9? According to some journalists, people who want answers are advised against going there as it can only end up badly. Former investors are maintaining that a few investors were able to get rid of their worthless FL Group/Stodir paper into the fund, which then was bailed out [...]

At this moment in Icelandic history it makes sense to revisit a question posed by an idol of capitalism, former US president Ronald Reagan during the 1980 presidential debates. What Reagan asked the voters is said to have played a big role in him clinching the election.  “Are you better off than you were four [...]

After accepting over 70 million ISK in the last campaign year from Landsbankinn and the controlling owners of Glitnir (FL Group) when it was considered normal to accept donations of 300.000-500.000 ISK, how on earth was the government of the Independence Party and Social Democrats supposed to rein in the banks on the way to [...]

Trustworthy?   Right now the nation is waiting on the most useless information ever from the Progressive Party. Who were their largest donors in the last few years? Even though the party will open up its books, the sensitive info will be nowhere to be seen.

The significance of the relevation behind the Independence Party’s acceptance of 55 million ISK from FL Group and Landsbankinn should not be underestimated. It is one of the biggest newsstories in Icelandic history. Here is why: FL Group was a company listed on the Icelandic Stock Exchange where Jon Asgeir Johannesson of Baugur Group and [...]