Researchers have long been puzzled by the phenomenon which sees the trout in Skanderup Brook, close to the town of Kolding, dying in their dozens at the start of autumn every year. The riddle has now been put to rest, however, and chestnuts falling from the trees along the riverbank have had the blame
The play was staged in Mestno gledalisce Ptuj or the City Theatre in Ptuj in Slovenia last summer. The group behind the project in Lublijana includes some of Slovenia’s most prominent theatre professionals.
Kitchen to Measure, Ordinary Horror Stories is based on five short stories by Svava Jakobsdottir and produced by the National Theatre of Iceland in 2005 and 2006. It was a box office
A candidate test was carried out this week on the Church homepage in order to vet applicants for the upcoming elections. The survey, which enables voters to choose a suitable runner for their parish, jammed after opening on Monday due to unexpected demand.
In the online examination, 72 percent of respondents said they were in support of the Church holding prayer vigils for same sex couples. A further 48 percent said they were also in favour of
I didn't expect to see fourteen musicians on stage, a mind-boggling array of instruments and an audience ranging from rock royalty to little old ladies, but that's what I got at Amiina's album release concert at NASA earlier this month. Debuting songs from their second album 'puzzle' on home soil, the band played to an almost full house, sprinkled with more gods and goddess of the Icelandic music scene than sugar on a doughnut.
It was up to Sin Fang's (they've dropped the Bous) eclectic musical stylings to warm up the gathering crowd. While frontman Sindri Már Sigfússon kept his presence low-key,
According to Greenland Radio, workmen and personnel at the co-operative supermarket became ill after breathing in gases from a silicon solution that had been used to renew the shop floor. Those in need of urgent medical attention were seen to in Maniitsoq by personnel specially flown in from the Dronning Ingrid Hospital in Greenland's capital, Nuuk.
According to hospital staff, the symptoms are not thought to
Conceptual artist, performer, musician, experimental filmmaker, peace activist, businesswoman and philanthropist,Yoko Ono is still overshadowed by the role she is most known for: being the widow of musician John Lennon and the accompanying hard-to-shake-off clichés about 'splitting up the Beatles'.
Yoko's continuous quest for love, peace and above all HOPE is perhaps exactly what's needed in Iceland in these times of economical and political turmoil. It hasn't exactly been a time of positive thinking. Fortunately, she is back in Iceland this weekend to light up her 'Imagine Peace Tower' for the fourth time.
Made in memory of Lennon, the work tower has been lit upon his birth date, October 9, since it was unveiled in 2007. This year Lennon would have turned 70 years old, which means a big celebration with events such as the long sold-out live performance by The Plastic Ono Band on Saturday night. We are glad to have her, so we called her up.
Instructions
"LET EVERYBODY IN THE CITY THINK OF THE WORD "YES" AT THE SAME TIME FOR 30 SECONDS. DO IT OFTEN." --YOKO ONO--
Yoko Ono's instructional pieces, published in a book titled 'Grapefruit' in 1964, are simple and often Zen-like 'event scores' that replace the physical work of art. Yoko
The media is often recognised as the fourth branch of government sitting next to the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Recognising its importance in 1787, United States Founding Father Thomas Jefferson said, "were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."
If fulfilling the role of the 4th branch was the goal, then Iceland's two most widely read newspapers, Fréttablaðið and Morgunblaðið, by and large failed to fulfil their duties before the crash. On the contrary, the papers often served as a mouthpiece of the government and financial institutions, through which they spewed positive propaganda to the public. Although, for example, Morgunblaðið's editor at the time, Styrmir Gunnarsson, claims the paper, "adequately evaluated external news and information [before the crash]," an examination of what the newspapers had in their hands in terms of external warnings and what they then passed on to the public reveals a serious lapse in journalism.
Before the crash, external agencies like Moody's, the OECD and Merrill Lynch, consistently issued reports warning about the enormity of the commercial banking sector and the absence of a lender of last resort. Each time, the newspapers remarkably minimised their reports and ignored or refuted any critical information about the banks.
April – Moody's is worried about Iceland's banks
On April 9, Moody's issues its annual report on Iceland, reiterating its
decision to downgrade Iceland's banks to C- and lower the government's
rating to negative in February and March, respectively.
Morgunblaðið says crisis is unlikely.
On April 9, Morgunblaðið reports, "New Moody's report says crisis unlikely." At once the headline sums up a rosy conclusion of a report from an agency that has recently downgraded Iceland's banks to C- and lowered Iceland's outlook to negative. The article begins by stating Iceland's exceptional quality in being the only Aaa ranked country with C- ranked banks, as if this was almost a good thing. It goes on to say, "the state of the banks is said to be concerning, but it's unlikely that they will be the cause an economic crisis." Additionally, it reports, "Minister of Finance Árni M. Mathiesen says discussions during the last two to three weeks have been moving in a positive direction. Moody's is very well acquainted with the country and their positive report should push discussions in that direction."
Thus, it's generally a positive report.
Morgunblaðið fails to mention that the banks are nine times Iceland's GDP, and does not include Moody's warning: "The banking sector in Iceland represents the most burdensome contingent liability. Moody's considers the three large commercial banks in Iceland as "too big to fail," a concept that is not affected by the banks having been fully privatised, meaning that we would expect a very high degree of systemic support by the Icelandic authorities for the banks in the event of a stress situation. Given the scale of the banks' international operations, however, any systemic threat would prove extremely costly to the government if that eventuality were to materialize."
Of course if they had included all of this, the Minister of Finance would have appeared incompetent and they couldn't have written up such an overwhelmingly positive interpretation of the report.
Fréttablaðið says speculations are ridiculous
On the following day, April 10, Fréttablaðið covers Moody's report in an article called, "Ridiculous speculations." The article
The media is often recognised as the fourth branch of government sitting next to the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Recognising its importance in 1787, United States Founding Father Thomas Jefferson said, "were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."
If fulfilling the role of the 4th branch was the goal, then Iceland's two most widely read newspapers, Fréttablaðið and Morgunblaðið, by and large failed to fulfil their duties before the crash. On the contrary, the papers often served as a mouthpiece of the government and financial institutions, through which they spewed positive propaganda to the public. Although, for example, Morgunblaðið's editor at the time, Styrmir Gunnarsson, claims the paper, "adequately evaluated external news and information [before the crash]," an examination of what the newspapers had in their hands in terms of external warnings and what they then passed on to the public reveals a serious lapse in journalism.
Before the crash, external agencies like Moody's, the OECD and Merrill Lynch, consistently issued reports warning about the enormity of the commercial banking sector and the absence of a lender of last resort. Each time, the newspapers remarkably minimised their reports and ignored or refuted any critical information about the banks.
April – Moody's is worried about Iceland's banks
On April 9, Moody's issues its annual report on Iceland, reiterating its
decision to downgrade Iceland's banks to C- and lower the government's
rating to negative in February and March, respectively.
Morgunblaðið says crisis is unlikely.
On April 9, Morgunblaðið reports, "New Moody's report says crisis unlikely." At once the headline sums up a rosy conclusion of a report from an agency that has recently downgraded Iceland's banks to C- and lowered Iceland's outlook to negative. The article begins by stating Iceland's exceptional quality in being the only Aaa ranked country with C- ranked banks, as if this was almost a good thing. It goes on to say, "the state of the banks is said to be concerning, but it's unlikely that they will be the cause an economic crisis." Additionally, it reports, "Minister of Finance Árni M. Mathiesen says discussions during the last two to three weeks have been moving in a positive direction. Moody's is very well acquainted with the country and their positive report should push discussions in that direction."
Thus, it's generally a positive report.
Morgunblaðið fails to mention that the banks are nine times Iceland's GDP, and does not include Moody's warning: "The banking sector in Iceland represents the most burdensome contingent liability. Moody's considers the three large commercial banks in Iceland as "too big to fail," a concept that is not affected by the banks having been fully privatised, meaning that we would expect a very high degree of systemic support by the Icelandic authorities for the banks in the event of a stress situation. Given the scale of the banks' international operations, however, any systemic threat would prove extremely costly to the government if that eventuality were to materialize."
Of course if they had included all of this, the Minister of Finance would have appeared incompetent and they couldn't have written up such an overwhelmingly positive interpretation of the report.
Fréttablaðið says speculations are ridiculous
On the following day, April 10, Fréttablaðið covers Moody's report in an article called, "Ridiculous speculations." The article
I didn't expect to see fourteen musicians on stage, a mind-boggling array of instruments and an audience ranging from rock royalty to little old ladies, but that's what I got at Amiina's album release concert at NASA earlier this month. Debuting songs from their second album 'puzzle' on home soil, the band played to an almost full house, sprinkled with more gods and goddess of the Icelandic music scene than sugar on a doughnut.
It was up to Sin Fang's (they've dropped the Bous) eclectic musical stylings to warm up the gathering crowd. While frontman Sindri Már Sigfússon kept his presence low-key,
The goods, which are designed to help men perform better and last longer in bed, are valued at around SEK 4 million (USD 600,000). Interpol, the international police agency, carried out the coordinated raids in 48 countries. Locations in Stockholm, Sodertalje and Kalmar were targeted in Sweden.
Spokesperson for the National Criminal Police in Sweden, Varg
The man’s need for nicotine got the better of him and he sneaked off to the bathroom for a sneaky cigarette. A serious mistake, it turns out.
When the plane landed in the Norwegian capital, the Tunisian was instantly arrested and locked up in a prison cell – where he remained until he was able to rustle up the USD 1,700 fine, Visir.is reported. Once the fine was paid, the man was put on the first
Conceptual artist, performer, musician, experimental filmmaker, peace activist, businesswoman and philanthropist,Yoko Ono is still overshadowed by the role she is most known for: being the widow of musician John Lennon and the accompanying hard-to-shake-off clichés about 'splitting up the Beatles'.
Yoko's continuous quest for love, peace and above all HOPE is perhaps exactly what's needed in Iceland in these times of economical and political turmoil. It hasn't exactly been a time of positive thinking. Fortunately, she is back in Iceland this weekend to light up her 'Imagine Peace Tower' for the fourth time.
Made in memory of Lennon, the work tower has been lit upon his birth date, October 9, since it was unveiled in 2007. This year Lennon would have turned 70 years old, which means a big celebration with events such as the long sold-out live performance by The Plastic Ono Band on Saturday night. We are glad to have her, so we called her up.
Instructions
"LET EVERYBODY IN THE CITY THINK OF THE WORD "YES" AT THE SAME TIME FOR 30 SECONDS. DO IT OFTEN." --YOKO ONO--
Yoko Ono's instructional pieces, published in a book titled 'Grapefruit' in 1964, are simple and often Zen-like 'event scores' that replace the physical work of art. Yoko
Conceptual artist, performer, musician, experimental filmmaker, peace activist, businesswoman and philanthropist,Yoko Ono is still overshadowed by the role she is most known for: being the widow of musician John Lennon and the accompanying hard-to-shake-off clichés about 'splitting up the Beatles'.
Yoko's continuous quest for love, peace and above all HOPE is perhaps exactly what's needed in Iceland in these times of economical and political turmoil. It hasn't exactly been a time of positive thinking. Fortunately, she is back in Iceland this weekend to light up her 'Imagine Peace Tower' for the fourth time.
Made in memory of Lennon, the work tower has been lit upon his birth date, October 9, since it was unveiled in 2007. This year Lennon would have turned 70 years old, which means a big celebration with events such as the long sold-out live performance by The Plastic Ono Band on Saturday night. We are glad to have her, so we called her up.
Instructions
"LET EVERYBODY IN THE CITY THINK OF THE WORD "YES" AT THE SAME TIME FOR 30 SECONDS. DO IT OFTEN." --YOKO ONO--
Yoko Ono's instructional pieces, published in a book titled 'Grapefruit' in 1964, are simple and often Zen-like 'event scores' that replace the physical work of art. Yoko
Conceptual artist, performer, musician, experimental filmmaker, peace activist, businesswoman and philanthropist,Yoko Ono is still overshadowed by the role she is most known for: being the widow of musician John Lennon and the accompanying hard-to-shake-off clichés about 'splitting up the Beatles'.
Yoko's continuous quest for love, peace and above all HOPE is perhaps exactly what's needed in Iceland in these times of economical and political turmoil. It hasn't exactly been a time of positive thinking. Fortunately, she is back in Iceland this weekend to light up her 'Imagine Peace Tower' for the fourth time.
Made in memory of Lennon, the work tower has been lit upon his birth date, October 9, since it was unveiled in 2007. This year Lennon would have turned 70 years old, which means a big celebration with events such as the long sold-out live performance by The Plastic Ono Band on Saturday night. We are glad to have her, so we called her up.
Instructions
"LET EVERYBODY IN THE CITY THINK OF THE WORD "YES" AT THE SAME TIME FOR 30 SECONDS. DO IT OFTEN." --YOKO ONO--
Yoko Ono's instructional pieces, published in a book titled 'Grapefruit' in 1964, are simple and often Zen-like 'event scores' that replace the physical work of art. Yoko
Pascal Pinon are truly something. Comprised of twin sisters Jófríður Ákadóttir and Ásthildur Ákadóttir, these girls have been writing and performing sweet, soothing, melodic and incredibly ambitious music since they were at the tender age of fifteen.
That was last year, by the way.
And in that short space of time, they've managed to record and self-release an entire album, play countless shows and... sign with the very excellent Morr Music label. The girls are modest and straightforward, as teenagers are wont. "We saw on their website that you could send them a CD and they would listen to it, so we did," Jófríður tells us when asked about their new deal. "Then Thomas Morr contacted us and said he and Morr Music wanted to be involved, so that was great news! And yes, we are really excited, this is a great opportunity and we are very thankful for getting this experience
While Airwaves is a rather fun and fabulous time for most, it's possible that at one stage or another you, or one of your friends, might find yourselves at the wrong end of a flying elbow or taking a dive after one too many cold ones.
Grapevine asked the good doctor Haukur Heiðar Hauksson, of Dikta superfame, for some top tips on how to get through Airwaves safely or what to do should you find yourself in need of some serious TLC.
What are the general injuries the ER receives from festivalgoers?
Mostly knocks to the head and injuries from falling over outside of venues. Some years we have snow and slippery ice, so that leads to sprained ankles, and we've had some broken legs. Sometimes with the amount of alcohol people drink they can fall and get wounds that require stitching. We usually let people sleep the alcohol off in the hospital and send them home in a
While Airwaves is a rather fun and fabulous time for most, it's possible that at one stage or another you, or one of your friends, might find yourselves at the wrong end of a flying elbow or taking a dive after one too many cold ones.
Grapevine asked the good doctor Haukur Heiðar Hauksson, of Dikta superfame, for some top tips on how to get through Airwaves safely or what to do should you find yourself in need of some serious TLC.
What are the general injuries the ER receives from festivalgoers?
Mostly knocks to the head and injuries from falling over outside of venues. Some years we have snow and slippery ice, so that leads to sprained ankles, and we've had some broken legs. Sometimes with the amount of alcohol people drink they can fall and get wounds that require stitching. We usually let people sleep the alcohol off in the hospital and send them home in a
Conceptual artist, performer, musician, experimental filmmaker, peace activist, businesswoman and philanthropist,Yoko Ono is still overshadowed by the role she is most known for: being the widow of musician John Lennon and the accompanying hard-to-shake-off clichés about 'splitting up the Beatles'.
Yoko's continuous quest for love, peace and above all HOPE is perhaps exactly what's needed in Iceland in these times of economical and political turmoil. It hasn't exactly been a time of positive thinking. Fortunately, she is back in Iceland this weekend to light up her 'Imagine Peace Tower' for the fourth time.
Made in memory of Lennon, the work tower has been lit upon his birth date, October 9, since it was unveiled in 2007. This year Lennon would have turned 70 years old, which means a big celebration with events such as the long sold-out live performance by The Plastic Ono Band on Saturday night. We are glad to have her, so we called her up.
Instructions
"LET EVERYBODY IN THE CITY THINK OF THE WORD "YES" AT THE SAME TIME FOR 30 SECONDS. DO IT OFTEN." --YOKO ONO--
Yoko Ono's instructional pieces, published in a book titled 'Grapefruit' in 1964, are simple and often Zen-like 'event scores' that replace the physical work of art. Yoko
Conceptual artist, performer, musician, experimental filmmaker, peace activist, businesswoman and philanthropist,Yoko Ono is still overshadowed by the role she is most known for: being the widow of musician John Lennon and the accompanying hard-to-shake-off clichés about 'splitting up the Beatles'.
Yoko's continuous quest for love, peace and above all HOPE is perhaps exactly what's needed in Iceland in these times of economical and political turmoil. It hasn't exactly been a time of positive thinking. Fortunately, she is back in Iceland this weekend to light up her 'Imagine Peace Tower' for the fourth time.
Made in memory of Lennon, the work tower has been lit upon his birth date, October 9, since it was unveiled in 2007. This year Lennon would have turned 70 years old, which means a big celebration with events such as the long sold-out live performance by The Plastic Ono Band on Saturday night. We are glad to have her, so we called her up.
Instructions
"LET EVERYBODY IN THE CITY THINK OF THE WORD "YES" AT THE SAME TIME FOR 30 SECONDS. DO IT OFTEN." --YOKO ONO--
Yoko Ono's instructional pieces, published in a book titled 'Grapefruit' in 1964, are simple and often Zen-like 'event scores' that replace the physical work of art. Yoko
Reykjavík's one and only performance art festival, artFart, is happening again this summer! The auditory tours, dance, theatre, and visual experiments start up on August 5th, and the stink isn't set to clear until the 22nd.
Founded in order to give performance-based artists a platform to experiment with new work, artFart has become an established Reykjavík festival and new things are on the agenda this summer. Like a residency programme, where three artists are commissioned to create and work for the three-week period of the festival. Alexander Roberts, one of artFart's organisers, expresses his enthusiasm for the event, "The
"I have always been extremely interested in the surface of things," artist Hrafnkell Sigurðsson tells us. "It is what I have been exploring, and what I keep exploring—the infinite depth of the surface."
Hrafnkell has long been one of Iceland's most innovative and interesting artists: daring and complex, thoughtful and accessible, often aggressively challenging and almost always beautiful—magnifying the surface of things to reveal a rich and hidden interior. His work over the past two decades has ensured him a place at the forefront of our visual arts scene, and anyone who studies it will know why.
We
Conceptual artist, performer, musician, experimental filmmaker, peace activist, businesswoman and philanthropist,Yoko Ono is still overshadowed by the role she is most known for: being the widow of musician John Lennon and the accompanying hard-to-shake-off clichés about 'splitting up the Beatles'.
Yoko's continuous quest for love, peace and above all HOPE is perhaps exactly what's needed in Iceland in these times of economical and political turmoil. It hasn't exactly been a time of positive thinking. Fortunately, she is back in Iceland this weekend to light up her 'Imagine Peace Tower' for the fourth time.
Made in memory of Lennon, the work tower has been lit upon his birth date, October 9, since it was unveiled in 2007. This year Lennon would have turned 70 years old, which means a big celebration with events such as the long sold-out live performance by The Plastic Ono Band on Saturday night. We are glad to have her, so we called her up.
Instructions
"LET EVERYBODY IN THE CITY THINK OF THE WORD "YES" AT THE SAME TIME FOR 30 SECONDS. DO IT OFTEN." --YOKO ONO--
Yoko Ono's instructional pieces, published in a book titled 'Grapefruit' in 1964, are simple and often Zen-like 'event scores' that replace the physical work of art. Yoko
Yoko Ono, the driving force behind the tower dedicated to the memory of John Lennon, will be offering free trips to Videy island near the Icelandic capital this evening and tomorrow evening so that people can get to see the tower up close.
Today would have been Lennon’s 70th birthday, which is why Yoko Ono is also holding a series of events to celebrate, including a concert this weekend.
The free ferries
"We have estimated that some 15 PCs and two telephones were stolen," Tax Ministry press officer Morten Schoop told Politiken. Schoop, however, insisted that taxpayers' personal details are safe. "All data is encrypted so there should be no danger of hacking into sensitive information," he said.
According to police, there were no signs of a break-in, prompting suspicions that
Bubbi Morthens and Utangarðsmenn hit the dull sugarcoated Icelandic pop scene in 1980, spreading raw excitement in their wake. Almost overnight all the seventies pop stars seemed passé. In 1981, the new rock scene exploded with bands such as Þeyr, Purrkur Pillnikk, Tappi Tíkarrass, Fræbbblarnir and Jonee Jonee doing their best stuff. The wave was perfectly captured in the documentary film 'Rokk í Reykjavík,' which was premiered in April of 1982. After that, things started to fade out. The rise and demise of Kukl has already been documented in these pages, and next time I plan to tell the story of my own band, S. H. Draumur, which struggled on in 1982–1986 to little fanfare.
The 'mainstream ' ret urns - Disappointment
Things were getting seriously "mainstream" all over again. Rás 2, a "pop" branch of Icelandic State Radio, commenced broadcasting in December 1983. Up to that point, "pop music" had not been a priority on the only radio station in Iceland, 'The Steam,' as it was nicknamed. Some people thought the new station would tend to fresh sounds, but soon it was obvious that it mainly took care of what was already popular. The seventies fun rockers Stuðmenn— who
Bubbi Morthens and Utangarðsmenn hit the dull sugarcoated Icelandic pop scene in 1980, spreading raw excitement in their wake. Almost overnight all the seventies pop stars seemed passé. In 1981, the new rock scene exploded with bands such as Þeyr, Purrkur Pillnikk, Tappi Tíkarrass, Fræbbblarnir and Jonee Jonee doing their best stuff. The wave was perfectly captured in the documentary film 'Rokk í Reykjavík,' which was premiered in April of 1982. After that, things started to fade out. The rise and demise of Kukl has already been documented in these pages, and next time I plan to tell the story of my own band, S. H. Draumur, which struggled on in 1982–1986 to little fanfare.
The 'mainstream ' ret urns - Disappointment
Things were getting seriously "mainstream" all over again. Rás 2, a "pop" branch of Icelandic State Radio, commenced broadcasting in December 1983. Up to that point, "pop music" had not been a priority on the only radio station in Iceland, 'The Steam,' as it was nicknamed. Some people thought the new station would tend to fresh sounds, but soon it was obvious that it mainly took care of what was already popular. The seventies fun rockers Stuðmenn— who
The 8,000-strong protesters also showered the building in paint and food colouring and one window was smashed at the neighbouring Domkirkjan cathedral.
Police and protesters never clashed directly and the crowds were held back effectively by fences erected earlier in the day. A large bonfire was lit in the middle of Austurvollur Square (outside parliament) and police described the vast majority of the protesters as peaceful. Nobody was arrested despite the high level of vandalism.
For several years now, Iceland has been building an international reputation for producing a rich and diverse range of independent dance makers. The depth of this relatively new community is growing at a fascinating rate, and taking huge strides towards building an environment upon which the art form can be sustained.
The trend up until now has been that equal numbers of Icelandic dance artists have chosen to work abroad as much as they do at home—largely because the conditions for making and sharing dance in Reykjavík have a long way to go before this city can offer the sort of fertile soil that some of its European neighbours can offer (think Berlin, or Brussels). Of course Reykjavík will never become the New Berlin, nor should it aim to be, but in its own way, the city is demonstrating great ambition and has the potential to offer a wholly different type of breeding ground for dance making in Iceland.
Much of the appeal attached to continental cities such as Berlin is the geographical location, which permits artists quick access to other hotspots, enormously improving touring possibilities and providing natural meeting points for the roaming international community. The qualities of Reykjavík are in many ways the stark opposite. Reykjavík, rather than large and central, is small and isolated, but these qualities are not to be sneered at, and by no means to be misconstrued as
The festival has been garnering good attention overseas, including regular coverage from the ARTE television station, Visir.is reports.
Last night the festival came to a climax with the awards ceremony and the première of the brand new Icelandic film, Brim. Over 1,000 people went to see the film on its first night at the Haskolabio cinema in Reykjavik.
It is usual for RIFF to repeat its
We're still wondering: What happened? How did Iceland get knocked so flat on its collective ass? And what's being done about it? So we thought we'd call up our Minister of Finance, Left Green chairman Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, and ask him. To our surprise, he picked up. Here's what we talked about.
The short version
Since this is a tourist magazine, and in English, we need to start at the beginning—we can't assume that folks will know what we're talking about. You are Minister of Finance—how did that happen?
It happened thusly: a government fell here in the end of January 2009, following a bank collapse in October of 2008. This resulted in great civic and political unrest, lots of troubles and hardship and the government that was then in place was forced to admit defeat. People had been talking about possibly forming a national government [where all parties collaborate] to respond to the unrest, but the then-government was not fond of the idea. But they eventually became exhausted, their coalition shattered and a new government was formed by the Left Green Party and the Social Democratic Alliance. The Progressive Party supported that government until that spring's election.
In the elections of April 2009, we and the Social Democrats won a pure majority combined [thus eliminating the need for the Progressives' support] and we formed a government.
I am chairman of one of the two ruling parties, and have dealt with economics and finance, so it was natural that I would become Minister of Finance. Actually, I also served as Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture during our minority government period—that was a very busy time—but since May 10, 2009, I have focused only on the state's finances. It is a big job, as a lot of the problems created by the collapse wind up on my desk. I think I can safely assert that no one got as big a portion of collapse-related problems as I did.
That's the short version.
Money. Lots of it
Can you describe taking over the job in February of 2009? What sort of estate did your predecessor leave you?
It was hard, of course, everything had been pretty much paralysed here by the horrific events that unfolded and the pressure of dealing with them. The government that burst was not very functional by the end and several matters were frozen. So we had to pull up our sleeves and get things moving, put a lot of projects into motion as soon as we started.
We resorted to various temporary measures to assist companies and homes that were experiencing trouble; we granted them various leniencies on payments and allowed taxes to be paid over a longer period of time. We greatly increased interest relief to help families that were hurt by how much their loans had gone up as a result of the collapse.
Of course we didn't manage to finish everything we intended to, such as greatly improving the state of our democracy by introducing a direct, person-based voting system, a constituent assembly, etc. We managed to complete some of those goals, but not all. However, this was in my view a diligent and energetic government that was successful in doing the best it could in the short time that it had.
As an amateur, I have to wonder what it was exactly that had to be dealt with...
On one hand all the loans skyrocket along with the interest rate, the króna collapses and there's suddenly a gaping void of money that needs to be filled... The effects on the state treasury were dramatic, and its income basis collapsed completely. It's evident when you note that in 2007 the state treasury had a surplus of 89 billion ISK, while by the end of 2008 there was a 216 billion ISK deficit. The downswing in state income was also unprecedented.
And the Central Bank went technically bankrupt and we had to refinance it. That's the largest single amount we've had to pay thus far, what the state had to shell out because of the Central Bank. We wrote off 192 billion ISK in 2008 as a result. That's a lot of money.
Imaginary assets
This money that vanished—where did it go?
A lot of the state's assets burned up; our equity lost its value and both real and imaginary assets got lost. We don't mourn the imaginary assets, the bubble assets, but a lot of very real ones burned up and became worthless overnight, in companies and banks. Unemployment skyrocketed; a lot of people that previously had well paying jobs lost them, which meant a decreased income for the state. This is a vicious circle. The public's spending power decreases, so income based on tolling and taxing imports is lost—and then we have to pay interest of our debts.
A lot of what we need to do to accomplish this can be hard and painful—and we're not finished yet—but we've made some great advances. Things are going well, and the situation now is a lot better than was predicted in the direct aftermath of the collapse. Inflation is fast receding and our economy is straightening out, so despite everything that's gone down in the past eighteen months we are definitely on the right track, even if it is a big struggle. I don't want to credit the state treasury or me as Finance Minister with our success, but we have still have managed to solve a lot of problems connected to the ministry.
This is where the biggest and hardest problems created by the banking collapse wound up to be resolved—aside from running the state treasury and managing problems related to that, our banks went bankrupt so we needed to reconstruct them. The Ministry of Finance handled all that work and the negotiations connected to it.
Processing the collapse
We also are in charge of the horrible IceSave affair that remains unsolved, and we needed to negotiate with foreign states and central banks to receive currency loans. We also handle a big part of the International Monetary Fund negotiations, we're restoring the savings banks... these are all hard and complicated tasks that are added to the ministry's day to day duties.
We've worked towards assisting the economy, helping businesses and homes through troubles. We're trying to work beyond just putting out fires and solving problems, presenting new ideas such as tax breaks for start-ups and innovators, and we introduced stimulating measures to increase demand for contractors, raising VAT rebates for construction and restoration work. We are sending out the message that now is a good time to build or renovate, and the state is supporting that with tax breaks... I could go on.
We've started an innumerable amount of these kinds of measures, and any claims that this government has been inactive are wrong, simply put. We have worked very hard, under very difficult circumstances. Of course this has been trying; it has been a busy and unbelievable time. And on top all this, we have been investigating the collapse and what lead to it, the SIC [Special Investigative Committee] Report, the Special Prosecutor; there are a lot of things to tend to in terms of processing the collapse. So to sum it up, you could say our task is threefold: to keep things running, to investigate the collapse and its causes, and laying the foundations of a renaissance. And I think it's going very well, even though the situation is still fragile...
No room for ideology
Following the discourse, and especially in terms of what the opposition is saying, it wouldn't seem like you're doing all that much, nor that you've had any success. Based on their criticisms and their track record, can you imagine what a coalition between the Progressives and The Independents would be doing? Would their measures be any different, in your view?
In a situation such as ours, people have to be realistic, face it as it is and seek out the solutions and methods that are available, to pick the comparatively best ones. That leaves little room for ideologies.
I am not saying that how things are done isn't important, it certainly is, but to some extent our options are very much limited by our circumstances. I am convinced that any government would have chosen a mixed way as we are doing—it's the only option, really. Reality takes over, and even the most hardline neo-liberals would realise that you cannot solve these problems without resorting to every measure. The choice to be political
Twins Johannes and Steinn Thorkelsson began at Reykjavik’s respected Verslo school this autumn and it has been something of a whirlwind ever since. Both twins bear a striking resemblance not only to each other, but also to Canadian Justin Bieber – the hottest property in the pop world today.
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