Why Is Greenland So Rich These Days?

[Reason]

http://www.lewrockwell.com/spl2/why-...d-so-rich.html

If you think that leaving the EU would be catastrophic, take a look at Greenland. By rights its people ought to be poor. Their island is isolated, suffers from freezing weather, has a workforce of only 28,000 and relies on fish for 82 per cent of its exports. But it turns out that since leaving the EU, Greenland has been so freed of EU red tape and of the destruction of the Common Fisheries Policy, that the average income of the islanders today is higher than those living in Britain, Germany and France.

Greenland’s politicians realized that the fisheries policy was ruining their fishing industry. They had the guts to stand up against the all the prophets of doom and let their people vote in a referendum on leaving the European Community, as the EU was then called. On January 1, 1985, it became independent of Brussels – the only country ever to do so.

Greenland was, with Britain, one of only two EU countries to be heavily dependent on fishing. In fact, Britain had, in some estimates, 80 per cent of Europe’s fish stocks when it entered the EU, because our fishermen had carefully managed them, while the fisherman of Spain, France and Italy had destroyed most of the Mediterranean stocks.

Read the rest @ http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/al...bye-to-the-eu/

[BuddyRey]

Hmmmm....Sounds like we ought to start thinking about a "Free State Greenland" Project.

[Rancher]

"Freedom is Popular" - Ron Paul

[Seraphim]

"Freedom is Popular" - Ron Paul

Yet so embarassingly misunderstood.

[Zippyjuan]

Besides being primarily a one- industry country (over 80% of exports are fish), it also relies on subsidies- Denmark pays about 60% of their government's budget (it is part of the Kingdom of Denmark). Britain has been exploring for oil and gas off their coast recently- that could provide more revenues in the future. 85% of the country is covered in snow and ice. Per capita GDP is about $35,000 a year. That is about the same as Germany and the UK- slightly higher than France. It is below Denmark which helps pay its bills.
http://www.indexmundi.com/greenland/...y_profile.html

Economy - overview
The economy remains critically dependent on exports of shrimp and fish and on a substantial subsidy - about $650 million in 2009 - from the Danish Government, which supplies nearly 60% of government revenues. The public sector, including publicly owned enterprises and the municipalities, plays the dominant role in Greenland's economy. Greenland's GDP contracted about 2% in 2009 as a result of the global economic slowdown. Budget surpluses turned to deficits beginning in 2007 and unemployment has risen. During the last decade the Greenland Home Rule Government (GHRG) pursued conservative fiscal and monetary policies, but public pressure has increased for better schools, health care and retirement systems. The Greenlandic economy has benefited from increasing catches and exports of shrimp, Greenland halibut and, more recently, crabs. Due to Greenland's continued dependence on exports of fish - which account for 82% of exports - the economy remains very sensitive to foreign developments. International consortia are increasingly active in exploring for hydrocarbon resources off Greenland's western coast, and international studies indicate the potential for oil and gas fields in northern and northeastern Greenland. In May 2007 a US aluminum producer concluded a memorandum of understanding with the Greenland Home Rule Government to build an aluminum smelter and a power generation facility, which takes advantage of Greenland's abundant hydropower potential. Tourism also offers another avenue of economic growth for Greenland, with increasing numbers of cruise lines now operating in Greenland's western and southern waters during the peak summer tourism season.