Article

2010-03-07 Europe

Icelanders vote in neoliberal foreign debt referendum

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Posted by Fred 2010-03-07 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11133 views ] Top

#1 Setting aside the fact that the poll was moot (the proposed reimbursement package being voted on had been shelved and a new one is in the process of being drafted - that's my understanding), this is an example of democracy at its worst. These turkeys felt as though they were being asked to vote in an early Christmas, for the benefit of faceless strangers in countries with 'much bigger economies'. The fact is that Iceland prospered for years from a banking industry taking the sharp practices we're familiar with to the max. They do bear a collective responsibility: their bankers took the hard earned savings of others and lost the lot. They will pay the consequences, one way or another, but this vote shows that, sadly, they really don't deserve much sympathy.

Posted by Bulldog 2010-03-07 02:54|| 2010-03-07 02:54|| Front Page Top

#2 I don't have much sympathy for either side, but it's moot whether a government has any liability for the debts of a private company.

Posted by phil_b 2010-03-07 03:19|| 2010-03-07 03:19|| Front Page Top

#3 Personally I can't think why someone should be liable for any cost that they never signed upto.

Should Enron employees pay the debts the Enron board hid???

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2010-03-07 06:46|| 2010-03-07 06:46|| Front Page Top

#4 BP, Enron employees DID pay the debts the board hid - kinda. Lost their jobs and their retirement savings.

Posted by Glenmore 2010-03-07 09:21|| 2010-03-07 09:21|| Front Page Top

#5 A more equivalent question would be if random citizens of Houston should have to pay the debts of Enron... or if random citizens of New York should have to pay the debts of Lehman Bros.' derivatives unit.

Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-03-07 13:16|| 2010-03-07 13:16|| Front Page Top

#6 and the answer is still the same. no they shouldn't have to pay.

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2010-03-07 14:41|| 2010-03-07 14:41|| Front Page Top

#7 The vote is a recognition of reality: there is no way Iceland can repay existing debts, and it is ludicrous to have them assume even more debt.

Write it off and move on.

Posted by DoDo 2010-03-07 14:43|| 2010-03-07 14:43|| Front Page Top

#8 If you're going to write it off, be sure their credit status reflects their default.

That goes for the Golden State too, BTW.

Posted by lotp 2010-03-07 19:05|| 2010-03-07 19:05|| Front Page Top

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