Iceland's government collapses

[A. Havnes]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/iceland/4348312/Financial-crisis-causes-Icelands-government-to-collapse.html

Exerpts:


Iceland's economic crisis toppled the government and destroyed the conservative prime minister's career yesterday when the entire cabinet resigned.


While the world's economy expanded, Iceland developed what appeared to be a highly successful offshore financial services sector, based on high interest rates and low regulation. But it emerged that the country's banks had amassed liabilities equivalent to six times the island's entire economy.

The government was forced to nationalise all three of Iceland's leading banks and to seek loans from the International Monetary Fund and other countries worth more than $10 billion (£6.5 billion). Meanwhile, the value of the national currency, the Krona, fell sharply, placing an immense burden on people who had taken out loans in euros or dollars.

Iceland, with only 310,000 people, has stayed out of the European Union and jealously guarded its national sovereignty. The country won independence from Denmark as recently as 1944.

[WarDog]

Keep a close on what happens here folks it could tell us our future

[Minlawc]

But the economy is forecast to shrink by almost 10 per cent this year - by far the worst performance in the developed world. Iceland's crisis has reached such proportions that it may now be forced to submit an emergency application for EU membership. This would give it financial support from the EU's own funds and the relative security of joining the euro.

Olli Rehn, the enlargement commissioner, believes that Iceland may apply later this year. If Iceland does bid for membership, however, this would have to be approved by all of the EU's 27 member states.

They may be taken over by the EU "For there own good." Is there anyone in Iceland that will stand up and form a better government?

I would be for just leaving it like it is, but who is going to protect them from the "bleeding heart" International Community?

[A. Havnes]

Keep a close on what happens here folks it could tell us our future

Does this sound familiar? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1mLvB7as5Q)

[A. Havnes]

It's on msnbc too.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28854529/


Foreign Minister Ingibjorg Gisladottir, head of the Alliance party, is expected to start talks immediately with opposition parties in an attempt to form a new government that would rule until the new elections are held.


Iceland has been mired in crisis since the collapse of the country's banks under the weight of debts amassed during years of rapid expansion. Inflation and unemployment have soared, and the krona currency has plummeted.

Haarde's government has nationalized banks and negotiated about $10 billion in loans from the IMF and individual countries. In addition, Iceland faces a bill likely to run to billions of dollars to repay thousands of Europeans who held accounts with subsidiaries of collapsed Icelandic banks.

The country's commerce minister, Bjorgvin Sigurdsson, quit Sunday, citing the pressures of the economic collapse.

"We are happy that the government has gone, but now we need to clean up the financial supervisory authority and the central bank," protester Svginn Rumar Hauksson said at a rally Monday outside Parliament. "The protests will continue until it becomes clear that things are really changing."

[akihabro]

See what happened when they allowed their banks to lend globally.

[RSLudlum]

It's spreading all over Europe and other areas also. Places like Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary Bulgaria, Czech Republic, and Madagascar just to name a few:





Bodies found after Madagascar riots

source (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2009/01/200912719584968204.html)

Twenty-five people have been found dead in Madagascar following violent demonstrations against the government in the capital Antananarivo.

The bodies were discovered in the debris of a looted Madagascar department store on Tuesday, a day after tens of thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets.

Jaona Andrianaivo, Antananarivo's chief firefighter, said the fire broke out Monday night as protests turned violent.

"There are 25 charred bodies. They got caught in the fire and tried to escape to the other side of the street, but there was no way out.

"We only found them this afternoon as there was a lot of rubble," he said

rest of article here (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2009/01/200912719584968204.html)






Economic tensions building in Europe
Published: Jan. 26, 2009 at 11:48 AM

source (http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2009/01/26/Economic_tensions_building_in_Europe/UPI-20561232988531/)

RIGA, Latvia, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Street protests arising from financial distress have erupted into violence in several European countries recently, prompting fears of political instability.

In Riga, Latvia, a recent protest involving 10,000 demonstrators turned violent before it was done, The Washington Post reported Monday.

In Lithuania, police responded with rubber bullets to break up 7,000 demonstrators in a protest that ended with 15 injured. Demonstrations in Greece, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria have also included clashes with police.

Police in Reykjavik, Iceland, used tear gas to break up a crowd of 2,000. The following day, Prime Minister Geir Haarde called for early elections and said he would resign.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund, said the tension "may worsen in the coming months,"

"The situation is really, really serious," he said.

Observers worry the political stability in younger countries, notably those recently part of the Soviet empire, may be vulnerable.

"The political systems in all these countries are fragile," said Jonathan Eyal, director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute.

"There's a long history of unfulfilled promises and frustration with the political elites going back to the communist era," he said.

[A. Havnes]

I wonder why no one in the US is rioting? Oh wait, it's because we have the "messiah" running our country...

[Chosen]

There is a thread here from the weekend:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=176807