Iceland Sinks (page 2)

drwtsn32

I thought this thread was going to be about global warming.

stillajwexelder

The latest news is Iceland is suing the UK government

wha happened?

maybe they can talk Björk into doing some benefit concerts

They import most of their food and nobody will sell them that food without cash up front so now they have a real problem. The shelves are starting to go bare which breeds panic - medicines won't be shipped - they are frantically trying to open up the credit now so let's hope they succeed....

sammieswife.

Sasha

Is it true that there is no ice, in Iceland?

wha happened?

yes and it's not very green in Greenland

skeeter1

I just read an interesting facts about Iceland. http://www.invest.is/doing-business-in-iceland/taxation/ Know who the major employer in Iceland is? The Government!!! The Government also hands out alot of goodies - like 4 weeks and 4 days paid vacation, 2 sick days a month, paid maternity leave for 3 months, and the list of goodies goes on & on. The workforce is highly unionized, over 85% are in unions!! Big government means big taxes. Iceland has a "value added tax," (similar to a sales tax) of 22.5%, on top of corporate income, individual income, and other taxes like property taxes, etc. They export fish, and have to import alot to survive. The one bright point is that they use geothermal energy to heat their homes..... But....... No wonder they went bankrupt.

sammielee24

Go do your homework. They haven't gone 'under' because of their social policies at all - other way around, they embraced the US system of capitalism. Capitalism as promoted in the USA as the last bastion of true measure of freedom most certainly has bankrupted this country and sucked down every other country that bought their phoney investments.

I applaud Iceland, Switzerland, Norway for their social programs - at least they are all in it together - for the good of all. They got something for all the debt...and will continue to forge on together for the benefit of all - what you have here is trillions in debt with no way out and a system whereby you socialize only your debt which benefits the wealthy, while captitalizing on the backs of the average person. You spout hardship as a way of proving your worth - work hard, work long, save, save, save and be smart but on the flip side the crooks get bailed out by you and go back to living in their mansions and driving their hummers...so you keep working to pay their debt. Who's smarter? sammieswife.

At the foundation of Iceland’s success was aluminium smelting and a well-funded pension system based on the fisheries industry that had the money and a new appetite to invest in equities. This coincided with the deregulation and privatisation of the banking system, which allowed the island’s banks – Kaupthing, Landsbanki and Glitnir (then called Islandsbanki) – to diversify away from their traditional bases in farming and fisheries.

moshe

practically energy self sufficient.

Iceland has no trees to speak of to make paper pulp for things like paper, toilet paper,kleenex, women's sanitary products,etc. I see a black market for that stuff real soon. But hey, they will have heat, lights and toilets that flush.

skeeter1

I was never 100% for the bailout. I liked Ralph Nader's plan to put a sales tax on securities sales to pay for the bailout. Let Wall Street pay for Wall Street. But, is it Wall Street's fault? Or, is it the Government's fault for pushing the banks to make the bad loans out of fear of being sued for not giving loans to people who did not qualify? Did the community organizer's case against Citi Bank in the 1990's have anything to do with the beginning of the bad loans? Did Fannie and Freddie have anything to do with the bank loans? Government and Congress are just trying to CYA; and blaming Wall Street for the government's own coercion that lead to this mess. Those "crooks" at the big companies hire me and my spouse to tell them what to do, where to put stores, how many people to hire, what trucking company to use, etc. Have you ever owned your own business and gotten the satisfaction of making enough profit to expand your business?

Iceland Sinks

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