The Icelandic Meltdown

Stories

10 Stories

December 2008
- How Iceland Went From Codfish to Meltdown
  
  Wall Street Journal | Dec 27, 08 11:18 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - How did a chilly nation of cod fishermen play a key role in the world's crumbling financial markets? Seeking to avoid the boom-and-bust of fish catch, Iceland started by privatizing banks in the mid-1990s. It built a colossal banking system on a puny currency and attracted international deposits with high returns. Then the country went on a shopping spree. "I didn't really worry about money," said one banker, who is now laid off. More »
- Youths Flee Struggling Iceland
  
  Bloomberg | Dec 2, 08 3:49 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Iceland faces its largest exodus in a century as job seekers flee the ailing nation, which is steeped in its worst financial crisis since independence. One survey estimates about half of Icelanders between 18 and 24 plan are thinking about leaving the country for Norway and other relatively strong economies. Iceland's own $7.5 billion economy may shrink by 10% next year even as the IMF provides a $4.6 billion boost, Bloomberg reports. More »
- Crisis Makes Former Skeptics Rethink Euro
  
  New York Times | Dec 2, 08 8:07 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - When the euro was first proposed, skeptics cautioned of the dangers of an integrated system during a time of crisis. Now that the crisis is here, the euro has performed relatively well while smaller currencies have plunged in an investor "flight to quality." As the New York Times reports, the financial crisis is leading countries that swore never to join the single currency to reconsider. More »
October 2008
- IMF Plans Huge Credit Line for Poor Nations
  
  New York Times | Oct 24, 08 6:11 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - While the financial crisis is leading the West into recession, other parts of the world from Hungary to Argentina face an even worse fate: default, market panic, and possibly social upheaval. Now the IMF is working to build a giant line of credit, funded by rich nations, to provide emergency capital to nations on the brink. "The tsunami has only just reached their shores," said one international banker. More »
- Amid Scandal, IMF Exec Wins Praise for Nimble Work
  
  Bloomberg | Oct 20, 08 1:05 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Even as he faces a probe for misconduct, the head of the International Monetary Fund is being praised for a decisive response to the world financial crisis, Bloomberg reports. Europe’s chief banker says he’s “convinced the investigation will prove that Dominique Strauss-Kahn didn’t abuse power.” Strauss-Kahn, 59, has streamlined the fund’s process for loans to strapped countries, with Iceland and Hungary among the needy. More »
- Banking Meltdown Driving Icelanders Back to Fishing
  
  Wall Street Journal | Oct 10, 08 5:05 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The collapse of its financial system has left Iceland with little left to rely on but the sea that surrounds it, writes the Wall Street Journal . With few natural resources on land, fishing was the mainstay of Icelandic life for centuries until the nation's global banking industry rapidly expanded a few years ago—only to implode even faster. More »
- Iceland Shuts Stock Market, Nationalizes No. 1 Bank
  
  Associated Press | Oct 9, 08 6:09 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Iceland shut down its stock exchange today due to "unusual market conditions" and will keep it closed until Monday, the AP reports. The move came just hours after the Icelandic government nationalized Kaupthing, the nation's largest bank and the third to come into public ownership. An IMF delegation has arrived in Reykjavik, and Iceland's prime minister said that emergency assistance was "an option." More »
- Russia Drops $5.4B on Iceland's Imploding Economy
  
  AFP | Oct 7, 08 7:51 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Iceland is in talks to receive a $5.43 billion loan from Russia to stave off economic collapse, as the tiny Nordic country nationalized yet another bank and fixed its currency's to the euro. An oversized banking system has left Iceland dangerously exposed to market gyrations, and the prime minister yesterday warned that the country was on the verge of default. More »
March 2008
- Could the Credit Crunch Sink a Whole Country?
  
  Financial Times (UK) | Mar 26, 08 9:10 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The global credit crisis has spelled disaster for banks and hedge funds, but now worry is mounting that an entire country could go under. Yesterday the central bank of Iceland was forced to raise its interest rate 1.25 percentage points to 15% at an emergency meeting, reports the Financial Times . The surprise move was a desperate effort to curb runaway inflation and prop up the krona, a currency in free fall. More »
November 2007
- UN: Iceland Best Place to Live
  
  Reuters | Nov 27, 07 1:21 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Iceland has inched out longtime champ Norway as the best place in the world to live, and sub-Saharan Africa is the worst. The UN list, out today, ranks countries by real per-capita GDP, education, and life expectancy. The US ranked 12th, down from 8th last year, as relatively low life expectancy offset the world’s second-highest per-capita GDP, Reuters reports. More »