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Thanks Louis for an excellent article. I have been saying for more than 30 years that the so-called main stream allegedly liberal media is not liberal at all, being under the control of corporations, as you so correctly point out. I truly envy the people of Iceland for their activism and involvement in their government, it’s too bad that Americans can’t be as involved, but that, of course, would require a level of intelligence that those in power here in America do all they can to prevent. Anyway, thanks again….
A comment from an Icelander on Lou’s article:
“Thanks for the link, very interesting; my amendations are below each statement:”
Iceland had banking problems of its own in 2008. The banks had inflated the value of Iceland’s banks internationally. They screwed around with the numbers to make the banks look better than they actually were. Things caught up. The bubble burst. Most of the banks were heading for bankruptcy.
“Iceland had three big banks, all of which went bankrupt in October 2008. While the banks’ assets were placed In a state of receivership, the Icelandic state guaranteed domestic deposits (like mine!) but set up emergency currency controls to prevent capital flight, pegging the Icelandic Kronar so that it was no longer a floating currency. The bank owners and boards were changed and new banks were established and would henceforth be subject to government oversight and partial government control.”
Does the too big to fail argument sound familiar? The government of Iceland wanted to bail the banks out. With taxpayer dollars, of course. The people of Iceland said no, emphatically no, and never.
“The Icelandic government managed to get the IMF to provide emergency funds in order to get the economy back on its feet, which has helped Iceland to achieve a relatively painless recovery, unlike for example Ireland’s fate. The funds have already been mostly repaid and it was done with Icelandic taxpayers’ dollars.”
A revolution occurred. It started on the same day in 2008 when Obama was being sworn in. The people took to the streets. The rebellion was called the “Pots and Pans Rebellion.” The people were banging pots and pans together as they marched.
The Icelandic people were so vocal and adamant in their position of no bailout for the banks that three months later the entire government of Iceland resigned. The President and all of Parliament. The government had been taken down.
“The Center-Right governing coalition was the target of the protests and they did indeed indirectly prevent the government from signing a contract with the banks’ international creditors, mostly from Holland and the UK. The contract would have made Icelandic tax payers responsible for the now bankrupt banks’ debts in those countries, which would have quite possibly devastated Iceland for generations with stifling levels of debt. The President kept his office, which although it is mostly a ceremonial post, enabled him to veto the Center-Right goverments’ contract. The President claimed he was bowing to the overwhelming pressure from the protesters and repeated the veto for another contract which followed, much to the relief and approbation of the Icelandic public.
A New Center-Left coaltion with a new Prime Minister (Openly Gay Woman, by the way) was confirmed by voters in the following election of 2009. While many of the formerly-ruling Parliamentarians were voted out or resigned, most managed to keep their seats. Some of the leading protesters were subsequently elected and have become very influential.
Ironically, after the Center-Left ruling coaltiion’s rehabilitation of the economy, budget cuts and other forms of austerity lost them the following election, ushering in yet another Center-Right coalition but with fresher faces this time, which was elected largely on promises to lower taxes and reduce families’ house-loan debts (again, like mine).
On a final note, it gives me tremendous satisfactions to relate that some of the top Icelandic ‘captains of Finance’ have been indicted and convicted of illegal activities: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25349240
The following is an excellent and very concise overview of the financial crisis from the Icelandic President:
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/discussions/interviews/icelands-saga“
Thanks so much for speaking about this, Mr. Petrone and thanks to Ms. Leigh for the factual follow-up. The ever-shrinking concentration of media ownership has been going on for some time and has reached crisis proportion. The silence on the Iceland story is a glaring example of this dangerous perversion of our first amendment by the marriage of corporate, finance and lawmakers. Thanks, also, to the Supremes for giving the thumbs up on Corporate Personhood. The jig is up and our goose is cooked unless we get out on the streets and do our own pots and pans banging as the Icelanders did.