Do you remember that old joke…
Back in autumn 2008 the joke used be that the only difference between Ireland and Iceland was one letter and six months, but that joke is now on us. The economic experts who predicted doom for Iceland and salvation for Ireland by following their very differen courses, have proved catastrophically wrong.
This morning we heard from the World Economic Forum in Davos, RTE correspondent Tony Connelly told us:
Soros: Ireland got a very raw deal in the euro crisis, compared to Ireland, Iceland is flourishing
Related RTE news article: Ireland got raw deal over debt – Soros
And in greater detail on Irish Times: ‘Raw deal’ for Ireland on debt
Speaking on RTÉ Radio One, Mr Soros said Iceland had fared better with its banking troubles.
“If you compare the fate of Ireland with the fate of Iceland, Iceland is actually flourishing, although it had a bigger banking crisis than ireland in relation to its population, because it simply did not accept the liabilities of the banks,” he said
Now nearly 5 years on and it turns out that Ireland has much to learn from Iceland. Infact in recent weeks there has been some discussion on Irish media about just that. The following post explores what did, and did NOT, happen in both countries…
Related Links:
Iceland: People Start Revolting In iceland: Summary Of Action News In English | Former PM of iceland Might Face Trial Over 3 Banks Failure | 2008–2012 Icelandic financial crisis (wikipedia) | Guardian: Iceland ex-PM Geir Haarde cleared of bank negligence | Banks as bad as ever; insurers and Iceland in surprisingly good form | Iceland starts to recover its voice after financial crisis | Iceland brought in from the cold thanks to party of punks and pop stars More: inspiredbyiceland
Irelands response: The Unfolding Crisis and Ireland’s Economic Ruin | A History of Iniquity, I: The EU & Eurozone Assault on National Democracy | A History of Iniquity, I: The EU & Eurozone Assault on National Democracy | Farmers group wants Ireland to follow iceland and burn the bondholders | The Bank Bail-Out Is Costing Us Far Too Much | #OccupyIreland, 6 camps and building… Dublin, Cork, Galway, Belfast, Waterford…Letterkenny.. | J19: ‘Indignants’ to protest EU Pact in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick | Ireland still has the option of burning bondholders (Sinn Fein) | Address to European Parliament President: We want our money back (Stephen Donnelly, Independent TD) | That Joke: Dan White: The economic return of Iceland has proved that the joke was on us