Krona Volcano Collapses, Iceland Sinks Into the Sea
Iceland has become the latest victim of its own economic excess as hyperinflation and bank failures take their toll. The two largest banks in the country have been nationalized. The country that tried to buy the world now has to pay the piper.
Runs on grocery stores occurred after it was reveled that there wasn’t enough foreign currency to buy food. Cheap foreign laborers have abandoned the country. The krona is now valued just above the currency of Zimbabwe and Turkmenistan.
"What can we do? Watching the news getting worse and worse. We had to go out and be with friends. Maybe it's like the party at the end of the world," says Egill Tomasson, 32, sitting in the Kaffeebarinn bar.
@Verm After the way we have treated the rest of the world I doubt any of them would let us in. Sux to be US. The Vikings tried to escape to Iceland over half a millennium ago, it wasn't a good choice then either. Move farther south, some place where you can actually grow your own food.
@Jedi Yes. The wave is moving, Europe is already bracing for the impact. It is just a matter of time before the wave arrives and a matter of how far below sea level your countries debt is that determines how bad it floods the levees. Pray for the best, prepare for the worst, I hope you can tread water. Peace.
... at least they'll always have hot thermal water to wash themselves in. Unless the pumping stations don't have electricity to pump the water, and... oh, that happened when I was in Iceland. They bloody bragged about how wonderful everything was, and the next morning I woke up and couldn't even get a shower. No electricity in my hotel. Oh well!
You have to have a college degree to get into either one on a permanent basis. New Zealand has my vote. They have more sheep than people and I have great faith in and admiration for wool clothing. Lamb chops, yumm.
I worry about what will happen when the food runs out in Iceland and the killings begin. Martial law, troops in the streets, makes one wonder why the US just deployed riot trained troops on our own streets…..hummm. Can you say, “Pre-emptive?”, I knew you could.
In the source article: "In just five years, the average Icelandic family saw its wealth increase by 45 per cent." In 2006 it reached 4th place in World's highest nominal GDP per capita. Iceland has a population of only 320,000, thriving on shares, aka virtual money: 50,000 USD per capita in 2004 alone, a total of £894m in shares.
So, you win some, you lose some. They just gambled and lost. Time for Iceland to bow down for the almighty Euro.
This won't happen to larger countries with world currencies.
Strange, I cannot find any European non-UK websites which also mentions the downfall of the Krona. Maybe tomorrow morning. However, there is a big fuzz going on right now about people not being able to withdraw their savings on-line from the very popular Icelandic Icesave bank.
"After the way we have treated the rest of the world I doubt any of them would let us in."
Nah, most reasonable people just blame Bush and his vultures. Besides, we might need a good squirrel hunter over here. ;)
It's time to say farewell to capitalism and finally embrace socialism.
I tend to doubt that, but perhaps you have arguments to underline your statement? I think the opposite, it will avoid WW3. My arguments: - The US will focus on saving their own economy and solving inland problems rather than playing World Cop in the Middle-East. - Obama becomes President. Not that I'm in much favour of him, he's too much of a preacher w/o real political solutions, but the lesser of two 'evils'. (I would vote the Green Party if I were a US-citizen.)
Thanks for the invite hon, but I’m dug in here like a Minnesota tick. Unless the military decides that Grandma and her chickens are a threat to National Security I’ll be OK, I’m ready for almost anything.
News in the US seems to be very restrictive for the general population. The networks won’t even let anyone know what is happening on this side of the world let alone elsewhere. We get news from Israel, some from the Middle East war but little and nothing from Central or South America, not even Mexico and we are right next door. I’m glad to hear the world isn’t blaming everyone in the US for this mess Dubya created. Some of us can’t stand that jackass. The internet and Comedy Central seem to be the only free press we have left.
I was really hoping Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich would run together, either would be better than the corporate lackeys we are faced with now.
Last night a live feed from CNBC was cut off as the announcer was saying, "Iceland is an advanced nation, and no one thought this could happen to a country like this. No one can tell you what inflation is here. This nation is imploding, it could be 20%, 25%, it could be over 30%. It's chaos as they are tracking prices on imports by the hour, this is turning into Russia in .." [feed cut out]
US news is obviously censored.
Now the Russians are lending 4 Bil euros to Iceland in exchange for a 99-year lease on the airport at Keflavik - a former American air base.
