Iceland banking collapse: diary of a death spiral. Shortly after dinner on 5 October 2008, Gordon Brown spoke to Iceland's prime minister, Geir Haarde, in a frantic phone call.
The world was in the grip of the most serious banking crises in living memory. Within 48 hours Iceland would experience a system-wide banking meltdown and British taxpayers would commit £500bn of bailout funds to help UK banks avoid a similar fate. The conversation concerned Iceland's big three banks, Kaupthing, Glitnir and Landsbanki, which were locked in a death spiral as international investors stampeded out of high-risk financial institutions around the world. It was clear Iceland was too small to offer a state bailout; the three banks had combined assets almost 10 times the size of the GDP. Brown urged his counterpart to immediately seek a rescue loan from the International Monetary Fund, a suggestion that within days became inevitable.
These were difficult subjects Brown wanted to discuss, though they came as no surprise to Haarde. Faillite de Icesave : qui paiera pour le non des Islandais ? UK - Letter from Iceland.
Iceland's loud No. The small island of Iceland has lessons for the world.
It held a referendum in April to decide, more or less, whether ordinary people should pay for the folly of the bankers (and by extension, could governments control the corporate sector if they depended on it for finance). Sixty per cent of the population rejected an agreement negotiated between Iceland, the Netherlands and the UK to pay back the British and Dutch governments for the money they spent to recompense savers with the failed bank Icesave. That was less resistance than the first referendum last spring, when 93% voted no. The referendum was significant since European governments, pressured by speculators, the IMF and the European Commission, are imposing austerity policies on which their citizens have not voted.
Even devotees of deregulation are worried by the degree of the western world’s servitude to unconstrained financial institutions. Towards modernisation Iceland liberalises The 2006 mini-crisis. La jeunesse islandaise, trois ans après la crise. En 2008, l'Islande subit de plein fouet la crise économique.
Sa population traque banquiers et politiques responsables de leur situation catastrophique. La jeunesse islandaise reprend maintenant peu à peu possession de son pays, et de ses idéaux. Depuis 2009, j’ai vécu avec l’idée fixe qu’il fallait aller absolument en Islande parce qu’il devait forcément s’y produire une sorte de révolution culturelle, à commencer au sein de la jeunesse. Démocratie: lâchez-moi avec l'Islande et les réseaux sociaux. L'un des problèmes notables avec l'information qu'on trouve sur internet tient au fait que celle-ci pêche régulièrement par excès d'enthousiasme pour tout ce qui touche à son terrain de prédilection.
Parfait exemple en la matière, le site du quotidien anglais The Guardian titrait ainsi début juin: «Iceland crowdsources its next constitution». En allant jusqu'à rajouter le mot Facebook dans l'URL de l'article en question, le journal britannique laissait ainsi entendre que l'Islande rédigeait une nouvelle constitution reposant sur une démarche participative et en ligne. publicité. Cubierto de mierda y de sangre ajena · ELPAÍS.com. No es nada más que señal de nuestro tiempo y de la naturaleza de la hambrienta y a veces estancada y aburrida prensa diaria querer dar amplia información sobre acontecimientos insignificantes para la humanidad, husmear en los rincones más remotos de la Tierra, como Islandia, dejándolos a la que salta la noticia en otro lado.
Islandia era hasta ahora un país más o menos desconocido para el gran público, pero ahora se dice que la rebelión de "la calle" hizo caer su Gobierno y que esto podría ser un ejemplo para otros países grandes y corruptos. Pero en realidad no es la primera vez que "la calle" ha intentado derrocar el Gobierno islandés, a veces con resultado, a veces no. Cuando era así nunca saltó a la noticia, no había noticias de ello en la prensa mundial.
Iceland Revives Carry Trade as Default Risk Is Below EU. Iceland’s decision to break with global crisis-fighting efforts and raise interest rates this month may presage the return of the very same carry trade that channeled fast money into the country before its banking crisis.
Iceland raised its main interest rate on Aug. 17 by a quarter point to 4.5 percent, the first increase since its banks collapsed almost three years ago. The central bank, which also raised its economic forecast for 2011, is increasing rates as it eases capital controls that have locked in $4.3 billion in krona assets since 2008. The move may revive a trade popular before the crisis: borrowing in low-yielding currencies and carrying the funds into higher-yielding markets such as the krona.
“The central bank has stated that it wants to open the door to the carry trade,” said Asgeir Jonsson, an economist at Reykjavik-based asset manager Gamma. “As greed knows no boundaries, carry traders will always return as long as the yield is favorable.” Why is the carry trade so dangerous? Update: read The carry trade: a tsunami in the making for more insight into the risks facing the carry trade.
This feature is part of our FREE daily Money Morning email. Few people can resist the lure of free money. Iceland’s Gudmundsson Unconcerned on Carry, Vidskiptabladid Says. Carry (investment) The carry of an asset is the return obtained from holding it (if positive), or the cost of holding it (if negative) (see also Cost of carry).
For instance, commodities are usually negative carry assets, as they incur storage costs or may suffer from depreciation, but in some circumstances, appropriately hedged commodities can be positive carry assets if the forward/futures market is willing to pay sufficient premium for future delivery. This can also refer to a trade with more than one leg, where you earn the spread between borrowing a low carry asset and lending a high carry one; such as gold during financial crisis, due to its safe haven quality.
Carry trades are not usually arbitrages: pure arbitrages make money no matter what; carry trades make money only if nothing changes against the carry's favor. Peston's Picks: Markets call time on Iceland. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President Of Iceland, Explains Why He Had To Stand Up To Britain. "L'exemple islandais est capital pour les pays européens endettés" Une révolution fait-elle rage en Islande ?
Plus précisément une révolution anticapitaliste, dont nos médias tairaient soigneusement l'existence, pour ne pas donner de mauvaises idées aux populations européennes ? C'est le sens d'un texte (repris sous une forme légèrement différente ici ou là, et relayé sur son blog par Jean-Luc Mélenchon) qui circule depuis plusieurs mois à haute fréquence sur le net français, et dont vous avez été nombreux à nous faire part. Ce texte reflète-t-il exactement les événements islandais ? Nous avons invité Michel Sallé, économiste spécialiste de l'Islande, auteur de chroniques mensuelles pour l'association France-Islande, Alain Lipietz, ancien député européen Vert qui a vigoureusement pris partie dans l'épineux débat du remboursement de la dette islandaise, et Guillaume Duval, rédacteur en chef d'AltActe 1Acte 2Acte 3Acte 4.
Islandia enjaula a sus banqueros · ELPAÍS.com. Se busca.
Hombre, 48 años, 1,80 metros, 114 kilos. Calvo, ojos azules. Islande : l’odieux chantage.