Islande : la “sagesse des foules” au secours de la Constitution Gudrun Petursdottir, présidente du Comité constitutionnel d’Islande, est venue sur la scène de Lift France nous présenter le projet assez étonnant de révision de la Constitution en cours en Islande. Comme tout le monde le sait, l’Islande a subi de plein fouet la crise économique de 2008. L’une des conséquences de ce séisme économique a été une profonde remise en cause du système politique traditionnel et le lancement d’un vaste processus de réécriture participative de la Constitution, qui attend aujourd’hui sa ratification par le Parlement. Image : Gudrun Petursdottir sur la scène de Lift, photographiée par Loup Cellard pour la Fing. L’Islande, nous a rappelé Gudrun Petursdottir dans sa présentation, est une république assez jeune. Elle a longtemps été sous la coupe de la couronne du Danemark avant de devenir indépendante en 1944. « Pour arriver à un changement, il fallait donc impliquer le public. » Le processus avait donc deux phases. Image : L’assemblée populaire islandaise par Agora.
Coppola Comment Iceland's bizarre Icesave referendum | Alda Sigmundsdóttir This past weekend, the people of Iceland went to the polls in a referendum to vote on whether a deal should be passed to repay the British and Dutch governments for deposits lost in the Icesave online savings accounts when Iceland's Landsbanki collapsed. As the international media flocked to Iceland in the lead-up to the referendum, the phrase "theatre of the absurd" occurred. There seemed to be a popular misconception that the referendum was about far more serious things than it actually was – such as whether Iceland planned to repay the Icesave debt at all. In fact, Icelandic authorities had already committed to repaying the minimum deposit amount for each Icesave online account – the deal being voted on in the referendum merely concerned the terms of the repayment. However, what made the referendum – the first in the history of the Republic of Iceland – particularly bizarre was that there was already a deal on the table that was marginally better than the one being voted on.
UK hires extra tax collectors to police super-rich LONDON — Let the audits begin. As the U.K. tightens its belt during economic uncertainty, a senior government official said Sunday he was hiring more than 2,000 extra tax inspectors to make sure that Britain's wealthiest feel the squeeze. The British Treasury's Chief Secretary, Danny Alexander, told the Sunday Independent newspaper that his priority was "making sure that those with broadest shoulders bear their fair share of the burden." Alexander said a 100-member "affluence team" would be in place in less than a month to keep an eye on the country's wealthiest taxpayers — the estimated 350,000 people whose personal wealth exceeds 2.5 million pounds ($3.95 million). The British government's crackdown on tax evasion has already netted more than 2 billion pounds ($3 billion) a year, Alexander said, predicting that figure could rise to 7 billion pounds ($10.6 billion) a year by 2015. "Something is not right here," he told the broadcaster.
Sans nouvelles d’Islande : pourquoi ? Si quelqu’un croit qu’il n’y a pas de censure actuellement, qu’il nous dise pourquoi on a tout su au sujet de ce qui se passe en Egypte, en Syrie ou en Libye, et pourquoi les journaux n’ont absolument rien dit sur ce qui se passe en Islande ? En Islande, - le peuple a fait démissionner un gouvernement au complet, - les principales banques ont été nationalisées et il a été décidé de ne pas payer la dette contractée par ces dernières auprès de banques de Grande Bretagne et de Hollande, dette générée par leur mauvaise politique financière ; - une assemblée populaire vient d’être créée pour réécrire la Constitution. Que se passerait-il si les citoyens européens en prenaient exemple ? La situation économique désastreuse du pays persiste. - 2010 : le peuple descend à nouveau dans la rue et demande que la loi soit soumise à référendum. En janvier 2010, le Président refuse de ratifier cette loi et annonce qu’il y aura une consultation populaire. - Démission en bloc de tout un gouvernement Like this:
What to do if the double dip is real? 18 August 2011Last updated at 15:36 It is gradually dawning on the global political elite that the economics they believe in do not work. They do not work, in particular, in the current crisis and continued pursuance of present policy is threatening a double dip recession (Morgan Stanley, the Bank of England's Andy Haldane), a 1930s-style monetary collapse (Fed dissenter Richard Fisher), Eurozone breakup (Nouriel Roubini) and political mayhem (Jeff Sachs). Free market economics caused the crisis and the rough-hewn Keynesian stimulus policies improvised in 2009 are failing to get us out of it. So, not particularly gradually, but rather with the urgency of Gerard Depardieu on an airplane, there is a sudden rush towards more radical solutions. Haldane, in a Bank of England discussion paper today, compares the situation with the one facing Roosevelt in 1938, when Congress forced him to rein in stimulus, prompting a double dip: he ripped up bank regulations and forced banks to LEND.
Eirikur Bergmann: Iceland's government is on the point of collapse as angry protesters stake out the parliament in Reykjavik Protesters gather in Reykjavik as members of parliament gathered for their first session of the new year. Photograph: Halldor Kolbeins/AFP While Barack Obama was being sworn in to office on Capitol Hill yesterday, the people of Iceland were starting the first revolution in the history of the republic. Four months after the collapse of Iceland's entire financial system, no one has accepted any responsibility. The governor of the central bank blames the risk-seeking bankers, the bankers blame the government and the prime minister attributes the whole crisis to the international credit crunch. It started in October with peaceful demonstrations. Initially the government tried to dismiss the protesters as frustrated wannabe politicians and disillusioned youngsters who did not understand the complexity of the situation. Yesterday parliament resumed for the first time after Christmas.
Spain raises taxes on the rich | Business Spain today became the latest European country to hike taxes on the wealthy, with a new asset-based tax targeting the country's richest people. Spain's socialist government hopes that the new wealth tax will raise up to €1bn in a country where growth is grinding to a halt and this year's 6% deficit target looks increasingly tough to meet. The move represents a U-turn for prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who abolished a similar wealth tax in 2008 — just before the country plunged towards recession. "The economic crisis makes it necessary to bring this tax back, applying principles of fairness so that those with bigger assets can be taxed and so those who have greater wealth can contribute more to getting the country out of the crisis," a finance ministry statement said. Spaniards with €700,000 of assets in real estate – excluding their main home – as well as in stocks and bank deposit will have to pay the new tax.
Islande - Réformer Aujourd'hui - L'Islande a terminé l’année 2011 avec une croissance économique de 2,1% et devrait, selon les prévisions de la Commission européenne, atteindre le taux de 2,7% en 2013 grâce principalement à la création de nouveaux emplois. L'Islande est le seul pays européen qui a rejeté par référendum de payer les dettes des banques privées, laissant s’effondrer certaines d’entre elles et jugeant de nombreux banquiers pour leurs crimes financiers mais curieusement les médias français et européens n’en parlent pas ou très peu… Il n’y a pas de censure officiellement dans les médias presse, radio ou télé mais les journalistes et experts de tous bords, si prompts à parler de ce qui se passe en Egypte, en Libye ou en Syrie, ne disent absolument rien sur ce qui se passe en Islande. En a-t-on parlé dans les nombreux débats politiques en vue de l’élection présidentielle ? A-t-on vu des images à la TV ? Bien sûr que non car les citoyens européens pourraient avoir la mauvaise idée de s'en inspirer...
The Robin Hood tax: a big step for capitalism, a major stride for development | Global development What connects hunger in Africa, people dying for want of medicines or health care and fast-paced global capitalism? A small tax on financial transactions. A new report about computer-driven high frequency trading (HFT), compiled by supporters of the Robin Hood tax campaign, reveals a niche world of millions of transactions each day. The report highlights how HFT threatens a new financial crisis. HFT is a rapidly growing phenomenon, and now accounts for over 70% of the UK equities market. These millions of trades all rely on ultra-thin margins, meaning that one key way to reduce their number is a small tax on each transaction. The readiness of Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy to propose a transaction tax at European level is a significant boost. The announcement was greeted by the usual derision from the City and its supporters. But the UK already has one of the biggest routine transaction taxes in the world, the stamp duty, and raises £4bn a year.
Mob rule: Iceland crowdsources its next constitution | World news The new constitution will include checks and responsibilities for Iceland's parliament (the althing). Photograph: Brynjar Gauti/AP It is not the way the scribes of yore would have done it but Iceland is tearing up the rulebook by drawing up its new constitution through crowdsourcing. As the country recovers from the financial crisis that saw the collapse of its banks and government, it is using social media to get its citizens to share their ideas as to what the new document should contain. "I believe this is the first time a constitution is being drafted basically on the internet," said Thorvaldur Gylfason, member of Iceland's constitutional council. "The public sees the constitution come into being before their eyes … This is very different from old times where constitution makers sometimes found it better to find themselves a remote spot out of sight, out of touch." Iceland's existing constitution dates back to when it gained independence from Denmark in 1944.
Danish voters elect first female prime minister - CTV News COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Denmark has elected its first female prime minister, ousting the right-wing government from power after 10 years of pro-market reforms and ever-stricter controls on immigration. Near complete official results showed Thursday that a left-leaning bloc led by Social Democrat Helle Thorning-Schmidt would gain a narrow majority in the 179-seat Parliament. "We did it. Make no mistake: We have written history," the 44-year-old opposition leader told jubilant supporters in Copenhagen. Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen conceded defeat, saying he would present his Cabinet's resignation Friday to Queen Margrethe, Denmark's figurehead monarch. "So tonight I hand over the keys to the prime minister's office to Helle Thorning-Schmidt. The result means the country of 5.5 million residents will get a new government that could roll back some of the austerity measures introduced by Loekke Rasmussen amid Europe's debt crisis. Turnout was 87.7 per cent, up from 86.5 four years ago.