# Ireland Compared to Iceland



## roker (23 Mar 2013)

It's a pity we did not have the same outlook as Iceland, the people that caused the problems here seem to get off light. Compare this to Iceland, there's a great deterent from a meltdown happening again there. They carry on here as if nothing happened.

[broken link removed]

I like the one about forgive home owners debt


----------



## Leper (23 Mar 2013)

. . . sure non of our Bankers committed any crime . . . typical of Ireland Ltd . . .I see no reason why many bankers down to assistant manager level should not be called to account for their fairly shady actions . . .


----------



## Brendan Burgess (23 Mar 2013)

Hi Roker

If someone wants to compare us with Iceland , it would require a bit more than a list of 4 points. 

For example, most of their mortgages were in foreign currencies, so when their currency collapsed, their mortgages soared for everyone. 

Icelandic people are much poorer now than they were.  So are we as well. 

Having said all that, we should have let Anglo and Irish Nationwide collapse and made the depositors take their own losses.  That is being tried to a tiny extent now in Cyprus and look at the public reaction.

But the main point is that you would need to do a much longer piece of research than just list out four points. 

Brendan


----------



## Jim2007 (23 Mar 2013)

cashier said:


> Iceland jailed the bankers and bailed out the people.



It is true Iceland jailed bankers, but not for the collapse.  Go and read the court proceedings.


----------



## lawdie (23 Mar 2013)

Leper said:


> . . . sure non of our Bankers committed any crime . . . typical of Ireland Ltd . . .I see no reason why many bankers down to assistant manager level should not be called to account for their fairly shady actions . . .



I agree and every developer that increased prices on properties and every politician that wasted taxes and every public shareholder that demanded higher dividends  and every person that wanted a property portfolio and every mortgagee applicant that fudged the application to get accepted and every tax cheating sponge out there and (point a finger and put in your own villain) ...

Greed is mentioned in the bible.

Considering the number of people involved and the limited storage space in Irish jails I recommend we advocate stoning. 

If there's enough stones...


----------



## Leper (23 Mar 2013)

. . . and I think Lepers should be allowed cast the first stones . . .


----------



## losttheplot (23 Mar 2013)

Probably not enough stones, but we could demolish some ghost estates and use large chunks of rubble.


----------



## Brendan Burgess (23 Mar 2013)

lawdie said:


> Greed is mentioned in the bible.
> .



It may be one of the 7 deadly sins, but it's not a criminal offence in Ireland.

Brendan


----------



## dub_nerd (23 Mar 2013)

lawdie said:


> I agree and every developer that increased prices on properties and every politician that wasted taxes and every public shareholder that demanded higher dividends and every person that wanted a property portfolio and every mortgagee applicant that fudged the application to get accepted and every tax cheating sponge out there and (point a finger and put in your own villain) ...
> 
> Greed is mentioned in the bible.
> 
> ...


 
During the bubble there were precious few people clamouring about those things. Everyone was too busy getting ahead... unfortunately, as it turns out, on easy credit instead of actual money. I used to look around me and wonder what alternative reality I had woken up in. People earning a quarter of  what I earned were buying cars three times the price of mine, taking three thousand mile each way trips to the shops, and spending what should have been the price of a house on "weddings by Franc" (a.k.a. some bloke called Kelly with a blowtorch tan). It's not true that "we all partied" ... but a helluva lot of us did.


----------



## Leper (24 Mar 2013)

dub_nerd said:


> During the bubble there were precious few people clamouring about those things. Everyone was too busy getting ahead... unfortunately, as it turns out, on easy credit instead of actual money. I used to look around me and wonder what alternative reality I had woken up in. People earning a quarter of what I earned were buying cars three times the price of mine, taking three thousand mile each way trips to the shops, and spending what should have been the price of a house on "weddings by Franc" (a.k.a. some bloke called Kelly with a blowtorch tan). It's not true that "we all partied" ... but a helluva lot of us did.


 
You're right of course.  The banks let many loose the 'run-of-themselves' buying holiday homes in Bulgaria, Spain etc and an additional holiday home in Co Mayo. 

In fact, I attended a funeral in southern Spain and had to listen to an Irish lady boasting that Ireland was "awash" with money and what kind of banks do "ye" (the Brits) have?

Remember Bertie with his "the Boom has just got Boomier" speech.  

The banks (sorry, much of the personnel in banks) went after bonuses etc and their greed was unforgivable.  I don't believe that these people acted within the law.


----------



## shnaek (12 Apr 2013)

This is worth a read  - written by an Icelander and it's a bit more detailed than the usual rubbish you see on facebook:
http://studiotendra.com/2012/12/29/what-is-actually-going-on-in-iceland/
Most people prefer a few handy soundbites to reading lengthy detailed reports.


----------



## commonsense (12 Apr 2013)

shnaek said:


> This is worth a read  - written by an Icelander and it's a bit more detailed than the usual rubbish you see on facebook:
> http://studiotendra.com/2012/12/29/what-is-actually-going-on-in-iceland/
> Most people prefer a few handy soundbites to reading lengthy detailed reports.




Read that a while ago, it reminds me of what is going on here. To the outside we're the poster child but as in Iceland, the reality is very different.


----------



## Brendan Burgess (12 Apr 2013)

That is a great link. I don't know how reliable it is, but it certainly provides all the links to verify what he claims. 

His metaphors are a bit like those of  Eddie Hobbs 



> *6. Iceland is now growing very strongly*
> 
> Unless you’re the kind of person who looks at a child with leukaemia  and says ‘look at little bald Charlie, how strongly he’s growing’ then  I’d have to say no to that one. Surviving is not growing strongly.


----------

