Great Auk

Dettifoss Waterfall in Iceland

2009-01-14T05:26:00.005Z

This is a picture of the Dettifoss Waterfall. It is located in Iceland, and it is the largest and most powerful waterfall in all of Europe. To think that you had probably never heard of it! Well now you have.

I, for one, welcome our new masters

2004-08-19T07:59:00.000Z

Interesting:

Google, developer of the largest performance-based search engine, today announced that it has acquired the island nation of Iceland, deep in the middle of the northern Atlantic ocean. The purchase has business leaders around the world scratching their heads, as no one can figure out exactly why the privately-held company would spend billions to acquire a small island nation.

...

Iceland is not known for the strength of its information technology sector. It is, however, a forbidding, sulfurous, isolated place which would be perfect for a secret fortress, say industry observers. Many suspect Google of seeking a sutiable location in which to build a high-technology hideaway "with dark and pointy towers," free from international law.

I'm important, give me cash!

2004-08-12T13:45:00.000Z

Crispus writes about subsidized political party conventions:

U.S. taxpayers give $15 million apiece to Democrats and Republicans for their conventions. Taxpayers in host cities and host states pay even more. This doesn't include the $50 million that each party gets for convention security in a post-9/11 world.
...
Yet Democrats claim to be for the "common people" and Republicans feign concern about our tax burdens - while both put the squeeze on us taxpayers.

Conservative parties may be a little better than fully-fledged socialist ones, but as the British Tories, the American Republicans and, closer to home, the Icelandic Independence Party have shown, they can be pretty grabby when in comes to doling out taxpayer money to pet projects. The real difference is in which projects they want to fund.

Even that difference, however, is vanishing as Bush's Medicare package, and the Tories' "We don't want to abolish welfare, we want it to work better" aproach have shown. As for the Icelandic IP - they've always been socialist, only less so than the social democrats and communists.

I'm not sure if the Icelandic state subsidizes political party conventions here, or if so by how much. Will find out, so stay tuned.

Update:
According to the last budget bill the Icelandic state gives cash grants to those political parties which got at least 2,5% of all votes cast in the last general election. This year the grant total is to the tune of 180 million icelandic krónur, about $2,5 million.

As Americans are about 1000 times more numerous than Icelanders, we might (if we care nothing about the careful use of statistics) infer that this is as if the US governmental bodies gave $2,5 billion - every year - to Americal political parties.

Rotten to the core

2004-08-11T10:56:00.000Z

From the Adam Smith Institute blog:

"...many ordinary people see communism as something that just cannot work in an imperfect world - even though it has good at its centre.

They are mistaken. There is nothing moral about communism. At its centre is the idea that it is legitimate to force people how to live and where to work - turning citizens into mere pawns. Communism's failure in practice derives from its rotten centre."

When you say that "Communism is good in theory, but doesn't work in practise" you are in fact saying that in theory it's good to use violence and force to make people live their lives according to the wishes of the state, but that such a system breaks to pieces the very things that make human society work. Is that really what modern-day socialists believe?

Glen Whitman at Agoraphilia discusses the Theory-Practise argument in a recent post and quotes Arthur Schopenhauer:

"'That's all very well in theory, but it won't do in practice.' In this sophism you admit the premisses but deny the conclusion, in contradiction with a well-known rule of logic. The assertion is based upon an impossibility: what is right in theory must work in practice; and if it does not, there is a mistake in the theory; something has been overlooked and not allowed for; and, consequently, what is wrong in practice is wrong in theory too."

Hat-tip: Catallarchy.

Helter Swelter

2004-08-11T09:56:00.000Z

The weather in Iceland at the moment is draining my will to live. It's simply too hot. I know that to people living in Louisiana or the Middle East might think it odd that a pale-faced lad in Iceland is complaining about the heat, but I simply wasn't made for high-temperature environments. My ideal temperature is about 18°c with a light breeze. 25°c with little or no wind is too hot for me.

Judging from the apparel of my coworkers at the newspaper I'm not alone. I'm not sure if journalists at the business sections of the NYT or WP are allowed to wear shorts and t-shirts at work, but quite a lot of them do here today - although I'm wearing a long-sleeved shirt, as a business journalist I have to maintain some modicum of standards.

In other news, the PM has undergone extensive surgery and had his gallbladder and pancreas removed along with one of his kidneys. Cancer is a bitch. He's getting better though, or so his doctors tell us. Maybe it's for the best that he's giving up the job in September. He might need a little R&R.

The Quotation

2004-07-29T21:11:00.000Z

From the Mises Institute:

"'Need' now means wanting someone else's money. 'Greed' means wanting to keep your own. And 'Compassion' is when a politician arranges the transfer."

Hat-tip: Pragmatic Libertarian.

Immigration in Iceland

2004-07-29T14:49:00.000Z

Booker Rising did two articles on Iceland recently and then Molotov asked if I could comment on Icelandic immigration policy. Keep in mind that as a libertarian I would like to have all barriers on immigration and emigration everywhere dropped. Freedom is the answer in this as most other matters. Reality, however, often lets the ideal down.

I would like to write some more about the matter in the future. Recently there was a big discussion in Iceland about immigration as the immigration act was amended to make it more difficult to enter the country. The libertarian society to which I belong was at the forefront in the fight against the changes, but sadly we lost. That post has to wait, however, as my employer has first dibs on my time at the moment.

Sadly it's true that there was an unofficial "no black servicemen" policy until the mid-sixties. Iceland has no military and relies on the US for protection. The racist policy was never put in writing, but it seems that the demand was made verbally around the time of the signing of the defence treaty in 1951. President Kennedy was instrumental in changing that.

Icelanders are mainly white, although recent genetical studies seem so indicate that we are more celtic than Norse in origin. The Vikings took more Irish slaves with them on the trip than was previously thought.

This homogenized nature of the population has made Iceland somewhat of a promised land for Nazis and skinheads the world over. This is not something that I, or most Icelanders are happy with. God knows there are few people I would less want as neighbors than the Klan.

This is changing however, and changing fast. Numbers of immigrants - almost all of them legal as it is rather difficult to get illegally in here - are rising with every year. The largest numbers come from Denmark and Poland, but South-East-Asia is well represented with immgrants from Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia becoming more numerous.

Immigration policy is rather strict, and was made more so with the passing of a new immigration law last spring.
There are no quotas on immigration, but you have to have a work permit before you get a residents permit. The work permit is held by the employer, not the immigrant, and that puts the immigrant in a very precarious position.

I imagine that the largest number of Blacks in Iceland are US servicemen. I don't know of any special immigration treaties between the US and Iceland, but since the Icelandic constitution does not allow any discrimination based on race or color Black Americans would get the same treatment from the immigration authorities as whites. (The small size of the country has kept transparency high and corruption low).

The small size of the population also means that changes in nationwide attitude are faster than in larger populations. Although racism was probably much more prevalent a couple of decades ago - and there still is racism in Iceland - there is much less of it now. The same goes for other prejudices, for example as regards homosexuality.

On the whole I would think Iceland is a fine country to live in - for Black Americans as well as others. I would think that most people would regard Black Americans as Yanks first and Blacks second (or third, fourth or whatever). Also the more people of different colors and creeds we have here the faster the country is bound to lose its remaining prejudices.

Also I would welcome with open arms any good fiscal conservatives/libertarians of the American School. So get on over here!

Blogging frenzy!

2004-07-23T14:01:00.000Z

Haven't been as productive a blogger lately as I would have wanted but work has been crazy and after ten hours of writing about bonds and the Housing finance fund I have simply been all written out.

People who want to know more about Icelandic society and nature should check out these two websites. On the one hand is Iceland Review - a news website in english - and the other is Icelandic Geographic, an annual publication which deals with Icelandic nature and wildlife.

Censorship in Maple country

2004-07-19T16:20:00.000Z

From The Wall Street Journal (emphasis mine):

When it comes to Canadian identity, Fox News Channel is apparently a threat. Al-Jazeera, on the other hand, is just another point of view enriching Canadian culture. That's the message sent last week when the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) granted the Qatar-based, anti-American al-Jazeera a Canadian license. Fox has wanted into Canada since 1999 but has so far been shut out -- except in Ottawa, at the Canadian Parliament, which requested and got a Fox feed last August.

[...]

The darkest interpretation of all of this is that Canada's liberal political elites find al-Jazeera's view of the world more compatible than Fox's. The Arab network is always putting the worst face on U.S. policies, while Fox doesn't mind suggesting that it is rooting for America to win when it goes to war. We prefer to think better of our neighbors to the north, but it would be nice if they gave Americans the same benefit of the doubt that they give to our enemies.

Isn't it delicious that the Canadian politburo thinks ordinary Canadians can't handle Fox, but the politicians deem themselves able to withstand it's dreadful propaganda? This is what happened during prohibition here in Iceland. There were errand-boys employed by the Althingi (parliament) whose main job was to run back and forth between the parliament building and the pharmacy, where they bought pure ethanol for the legislators - who didn't consider themselves bound by the same laws as the rest of Iceland.

Not that Icelanders in general considered themselved bound by the law - illegal production of schnapps was enormous, and the traditional Icelandic Schnapps, "Black Death", was born during those years.

The funny thing was that a majority voted for prohibition in a referendum in 1915. Another classic case of "I think it's a good idea that X should be banned. I can partake, of course, but it's bad for others who don't know how to handle it".

CPI in the Telegraph

2004-07-19T12:02:00.000Z

Amusingly, or incidentally - however you want to put it - Roger Bottle writes in the Telegraph about CPI and the question of wether it is worth anything. With the huge reservation that he IS the manager of Capital Economics, and therefore not a novice when it comes to these matters, I would venture to point out that what he sometimes calls inflation is really changes in purchasing power. That said - the quotes:

"Since there are no prices for the output of the public sector, estimating this index involves taking the increase in government spending and adjusting that for the "real" increase in what public spending buys. And if you think it is easy to measure that then you are a better man than me, Gunga Din.

"Even measures which restrict themselves to household spending show quite a divergence. The overall household spending deflator, which covers a wider spectrum of household spending than the CPI, shows inflation at 1.8 per cent, not that different from the CPI, while the retail sales deflator, which covers a narrower range of household spending than the CPI, shows inflation at minus 1.1 per cent."

Click image to enlarge
(image nicked from the Telegraph, but hosted by me - I only steal intellectual property - not bandwidth)

"Yet widespread scepticism about the CPI cannot entirely be put down to an illusion. When different things are rising at very different rates, what does "the" inflation rate mean? The statisticians who compile the CPI attempt to measure the overall increase in prices by weighting the increase of each individual component of the index by its share in overall spending.

"Of course, very few people will have an expenditure pattern which exactly mirrors this average weighting. Each person effectively experiences a different inflation rate, depending upon their own mix of expenditure. If you are a heavy buyer of clothing and footwear, CDs and household furniture you should not be complaining. On the other hand, if you have children at private school and are a heavy user of hotels and restaurants your own personal inflation rate is in a different parish from the official CPI measure."

Interesting stuff this.
Hat-tip: Prestopundit.

How to measure inflation?

2004-07-19T10:44:00.000Z

If, as we suspect, inflation/deflation is a direct derivative of the quantity of money in circulation at any given time, and not a result of rising prices or wages - how do we measure real inflation correctly?

Is there a better (more accurate) method than the current method of calculating CPI's based on numbers of arbritralily chosen factors? If so - what is it?

Is it really necessary to measure inflation? Is the obsession with inflation that we have a result of the trust people (mis)placed in the Phillips curve until the eighties? Now that most economists no longer think the Phillips curve is an accurate yardstick in the fight to hold down unemployment - is there any reason for us to measure inflation?

Maybe there is, now that there is a Central Bank that issues money and regulates the quantity thereof - if it is to make (relatively) accurate decisions regarding the quantity of money in circulation it is better off knowing the appriximate levels of inflation.

If there were no one institution or Bank who could issue money - if anyone and everyone could issue money - would we then need to know the levels of inflation? And if we knew - would it do any good?

Answers and comments would be very much appreciated.
-----------------------
From Statistics Iceland:
The Harmonized Indices of Consumer Prices average for member countries of the European Economic Area (EU-countries, Iceland and Norway) was 115.5 points (1996=100) in June, remaining unchanged from May. At the same time, the HICP for Iceland was 128.9 points, 0.5% higher than in the previous month.

The 12-month rate of change of the HICP was 2.3% for the EEA, 2.4% for the Euro-zone while it was 2.9% for Iceland.

The highest inflation rate in the EEA in this twelve month period was 8.1% in the Slovak Republic and 7.5% in Hungary. In Finland the consumer prices went down by 0.1% while the inflation rate was 0.9% in Denmark.

Click image to enlarge

CPI continued

2004-07-15T11:26:00.000Z

David Boxenhorn responds to my post on the CPI.

"Before I go on, it is important to know that in order for the CPI to be meaningful, it has to roughly represent the buying habits of the public. As an example, suppose the price of movies suddenly goes up ten times. Has your buying power decreased? That depends on whether you go to movies or not. If so, by how much? By the percentage of your income that you usually spend on movies. You may note that there is a problem here – if the prices of movies go up ten times, you will surely substitute some other form of entertainment for movies, so your buying power will be impacted less than it otherwise would be."

David is surely right here, and that begs the question - how can an arbitrarily chosen CPI give accurate results? As David points out, a rise in the price of one commodity may even mean that I spend less on said commodity in the future. I may feel that 800 kr. is a fair price for a movie ticket and may go to the movies six times a year. If the movie ticket price were to double I certainly would cut down on cinema visits, even possible stop going altogether, and the price hike would therefore have little effect on my purchasing power.

"Getting back to our data, the first thing I noticed was category 02. Do Icelanders really spend 4% of their income on alcohol and tobacco? Almost as much as clothing and footwear? More than health? And what about educational services – only 0.6%? Something is wrong. Then I realized, of course, health and education are provided “free” by the government! But they are not really free, someone is paying for them, but can we know how much? Maybe we should include the amount the government spends on these services per capita?"

David then suggests that taxes should constitute the 13th category in the Icelandic CPI. Not a bad idea at all.

As for the 4% of Alcohol and Tobacco. If you lived in a country with about five hours sunlight during the winter you would need a stiff drink every now and then; also according to John Ray, nicotine may have a anti-depressant effect - again with the dark-induced depression.

But seriously, Icelanders may drink a bit too much, but that is, I think, a result of a larger societal problem - Icelanders have difficulties expressing emotion, any emotion, when sober, and alcohol may act as a release - its not a healthy solution, but it is an explanation of sorts.

Update
Of course *slaps head* the monstrous taxes placed by the state on alcohol and tobacco account for a very large part of this. We don't neccesarily drink more of the good stuff - we just pay more for it.

Currency basket changed

2004-07-15T11:13:00.000Z

From the Central Bank of Iceland.

"The Central Bank of Iceland has revised the currency weights in the basket that the Bank uses to calculate the exchange rate index of the króna. Weights are determined on the basis of Iceland’s external trade in 2003. The last revision was made in July 2003. Revised currency weights and the changes from the previous weights are shown in the accompanying table. The revised basket will be used to calculate changes in the exchange rate index as of Friday, July 16, 2004 until the next review at a similar time next year."

Click to enlarge
Why the Bank does things like this instead of letting the currency just float on an open market I don't know. Still it's better than to let politicians decide the exchange rate to suit their short term political interests.

Update
Acting on an anonymous tip I went here and read this:

"The exchange rate of the króna is determined in the interbank market for foreign exchange which is open from 9:15 to 16:00 on weekdays."

Seems I was wrong. Always good to learn new things.

Butler

2004-07-15T10:34:00.000Z

From Lord Butler's report:

"We conclude also that the statement in President Bush's State of the Union Address of 28 January 2003 that 'The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa' was well-founded."

Not than anyone will listen - the War For Oil was based on a Lie, right?

Just a thought

2004-07-15T09:56:00.000Z

From the Washington Institute:

"Ironically, three countries -- India, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey -- condemned Israel at the UN General Assembly and voted to refer the Israeli fence to the ICJ for an advisory opinion even though they had themselves built barriers in areas contested by their neighbors. India is just completing a 460-mile barrier in the contested Kashmir to halt infiltrations supported by Pakistan; within the last two years, Saudi Arabia built a sixty-mile barrier along an undefined border zone with Yemen to halt smuggling of weaponry; and Turkey built a barrier in an area that Syria claims as its own."

Hat-tip: Dissecting Leftism.

Sure, the Israeli government has done and is doing things which are abhorrent to Libertarians everywhere. But, because you see that Israel is clearly not being treated fairly in the UN or in the world press, you can't help feeling sympathetic.

Excellent

2004-07-15T09:46:00.000Z

Not really my fight as I'm not American, but I'm still glad they didn't fudge up the Constitution with this crud.

The Senate dealt an election-year defeat Wednesday to a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, rejecting pleas from President Bush and fellow conservatives that the measure was needed to safeguard an institution that has flourished for thousands of years.

Composition of the CPI

2004-07-15T01:30:00.000Z

Willy Sutton was wondering what factors to the CPI.

Being the obsessive-compulsive that I am I went and found out. The results are posted here. They are, as always, courtesy of Statistics Iceland (Hagstofan).

I am however not enough of an economist to debate whether the idea of a CPI is a sham or not (I have a faint suspicion that Willy is of the former opinion).

Trú

2004-07-14T11:05:00.000Z

Amritas has it down pat when he says that barn is cognate to the word bear (as in to bear a child). The word trú, however, is cognate to the words traust and tryggð, meaning trust and loyalty respectively. They in turn are cognate to old germanic, celtic and slavic words meaning strong, healthy, active etc. Examples are the ancient prussian druwis (loyalty), welsh drut, drud (strong), ancient slavic su-dravu (healthy) and the sanscrit daruná (hard, strict).

So the modern Icelandic word trú (religion) originally meant to be loyal to your god. Not necessarily to have faith in him/her.

The old word for religion - siður - meant, and still means, tradition, behaviour, morality. Siðaður maður means a well behaved, well brought up, moral man.

We Prosecute Married People

2004-07-13T21:21:00.000Z

What do social conservatives have to say about this? On one hand they are for harsher punishments for everything, up to and including sneezing in public, but on the other they believe in the absolute sanctity of (heterosexual) marriage. Vexing.

Barnatrú and the Talmud

2004-07-13T20:38:00.000Z

David Boxenhorn writes some very interesting things about the naive Icelandic notion of Barnatrú (child's faith) and the jewish Talmud in the comments section of his blog.

"Now imagine that the intellectual elite embraced barnatrú, and theologians of diverse points of view spent around 500 years discussing it, and reconciling it with chapter and verse under the assumption that the Bible was the source of truth – and that it was all written down, interspersed with “traditional stories and myths” – you’d get something like an Icelandic Christian version of the Talmud (lit. Learning). Imagine further that over this time a practical consensus was worked out as to the public and social aspects of observance, while leaving private aspects and theology undefined – you’d get an Icelandic version of halakha, Jewish law.

Jewish law is a common-law system, like English law, and unlike Roman law. Instead of going back to the original laws for interpretation, the whole weight of tradition must be taken into account. In this sense Judaism is inherently conservative, as opposed to (at least the Protestant form of) Christianity. But it is also based on the common sense of its practitioners, rather than a literal reading of the original text. In that way, I think, the study of Jewish law is the study of human nature."

This is very interesting, and may require some digestion before I comment.

Demography and Religion in Iceland

2004-07-13T19:22:00.000Z

A couple of links regarding the religious demographic structure of the Icelandic nation.

First an Excel-file from the government statistics office detailing the changes in numbers of Icelanders belonging to religious organisations between 1997 and 2002, which should give some indication on which religions are growing and which are in decline. All religious orgs are in the file so get ready for some pathetic numbers (in 2002 there were eleven people in Iceland in the First Baptist Church).

(Side-note: Don't you think it's lovely that the government collects and stores information like that about the citizens?)

Then, there is this doohickey. It's all in Icelandic, but it has two more years of information (1996 and 2003).

CPI for July lower than expected

2004-07-13T18:58:00.000Z

The Consumer Price Index compiled in July 2004 is 234.6 points (May 1988=100), 0.47% lower than in the previous month, most analysts had predicted a change of 0.0% to 0.2%.

CPI
Current Value | 234,6
12 Months Change* | 3,6%
3 Months Change* | 4,6%
Last Month Change* | -0,5%
The discrepancy is mostly attributable to changes in the system of the State Housing Financing Fund. The index for owner occupied housing went down by 0.6% (effect on the CPI -0.08%). Housing prices rose by 0.7%, but the aforementioned system changes overrode that.

* Annualized rates

Icelandic Islam and much more

2004-07-13T13:00:00.000Z

David Boxenhorn writes about an Icelandic woman who tells of her conversion to Islam, and about an Icelandic website devoted to Islam. The following is a post adressing these, and other issues raised in correspondance between us.

First, I don’t know the woman in question, and her story isn’t very interesting to one, like me, who isn’t interested in becoming a muslim. What is striking is the extremely partisan anti-Israeli feeling that pops out in a couple of sentences in the letter.

The thing is that Iceland has the same problem as many western countries – rising anti-semitism disguised as criticism of the Israeli government. Talk for more than a couple of minutes with these people (more on the left than the right, but there are lots of anti-Israelites on the right as well), and they start telling you how the Jews control America, they control American TV and Hollywood, they control the IMF and the World Bank etc. etc. This, coupled with the vintage anti-semitic argument that all Jews stick together and plot incessantly, is used to explain away the support the US government sometimes gives to Israel.

I thought I had seen a poll wich measured anti-Israeli feeling among Icelanders, but as I can’t find it I don’t want to quote it – I can’t remember the numbers accurately, but they were quite high.

I am not saying that Iceland is a hotbed of rampant Anti-semitism. Most people don’t think much about Jews in general, but the only time you hear the word “Jew” on the news is when Israel is discussed. International news here in Iceland go through a double leftist filter – first the leftists abroad who submit the stories and then the leftists here in Iceland who read and write them (I am of course generalizing, there are many dedicated and unbiased journalists here in Iceland, and the liberal takeover of the media hasn’t been as thorough in Iceland as in the US, but TV and Radio is more left-leaning than some newspapers). Therefore the news from Israel is usually biased in favour of the Palestinian cause.

All this said, I am dismayed that an Icelandic woman writes so harshly about Israel and Jews, but I am not surprised. No doubt her stay in Arab countries has fostered anti-Israeli feelings in her, but the seeds were sown here in Iceland.

As to the website www.islam.is it seems to me a very benevolent, tolerant website about the Koran and the Icelandic muslim community.

Icelanders may seem to outsiders a fairly godless bunch – many children born out of wedlock, lots of couples not bothering to get married etc. etc. All this is true, but Icelanders are, if anything, more religious generally than many westerners. The reason many children are born out of wedlock is simply that for quite some time there hasn’t been a stigma attached to being a single mom. It’s just a part of society, and therefore people aren’t jumping to marry just anyone before the child appears. I’m sure more people would get married if the tax law didn’t actively discriminate against married people. Young couples with children get more money from the government if they don’t get married.

The Icelandic tradition towards the family and religion is that it is very much your business, and noone else’s. Gay family members of leading politicians and illegitemate children of politicians may not have been to the liking of a lot of voters, but the general feeling was, and is, that it isn’t something that has anything to do with politics. With religion it translates into the notion that you don’t talk much about it, and you don’t argue with people about their religion, but it doesn’t mean that Icelanders aren’t religious.

There is a term often used here, barnatrú, or child’s faith. This is the faith that you take with you into adulthood from the time you were a child. This is often a rather generalized version of Christianity, you don’t qoute chapter and verse, but you know your stories and the morals of the faith and you consider yourself a Christian. This is, I think, one reason why many Icelandic Christians have no problems with single mothers or homosexuality – it may contradict some verses in the Bible, but it isn’t in conflict with the more basic, maybe naive, barnatrú.

I, for example, consider myself Christian. I don’t go to church, and I have never read the Bible from cover to cover. My barnatrú tells me that God isn’t going to punish me for using the reason or conscience that He gave me and I trust those better than most single bible verses.

The barnatrú seems to me however to be on the decline, and more dogmatic versions of Christianity, and other religions such as Islam, taking it's place. As a libertarian I think this isn't a good thing, as surrendering reason to authority can never be good, even if the authority is a book.

Of course, when you write about a whole nation, even one as small as Iceland, you are bound to generalize more than you should, so everything written here should be taken with a liberal helping of salt.

Some more Frog-bashing

2004-07-12T21:40:00.000Z

...just for fun.

"The mutated muscular soldiers of Mordor turned out to be hilariously ineffective fighters, a dozen of them held off by a single dying human. Apparently they made the beasts by crossing Orcs, Goblins and the French."

From 50 Reasons why LORD OF THE RINGS Sucks!

Crispus on Outsourcing

2004-07-12T10:33:00.000Z

Crispus has this to say on recent developments with western companies outsourcing to African countries.

"While still a small trend, it is a growing and good one. African college graduates have access to jobs that pay $200-$500 per week, in countries where most people don't make this money in a year. It expands the consumer markets in these countries, which can help countries like USA. Companies get qualified workers for lower costs, which will increase jobs for Africa. Countries like USA can then focus our energies on sectors where we have a competitive advantage - which is innovation. Of course, French unions are getting nervous - which is why France's economy will continue to stagnate while others grow, because it doesn't focus on what the French do best at the lowest cost."

This is a useful reminder for us who actually believe in free trade. When the Unions and other lefty pressure groups talk of jobs being lost over here and poor people in other countries being exploited by evil corporations - remember they are not thinking at all about the welfare of those foreign nationals - only about the political power that comes with running a union.

But Crispus, what the French do best is surrender - you can't make a living off that. Maybe they could offer their services as references to evil dictators, like an unscrupulous movie-critic who sells blurbs - there could be money in that, and it would all be government run and financed, which should suit the French statists.

Iceland is one-upped by Japan

2004-07-09T15:31:00.000Z

From Yahoo News (emphasis mine).

"A primary school in Wakayama Prefecture will provide electronic tags on students' belongings that will help parents and teachers monitor their safety on the way to and from school, a local bureau of the telecommunications ministry said Wednesday.

"The tags -- similar to those used for merchandise at retailers and wholesalers for inventory control -- will be attached to students' school bags or nameplates, while tag readers will be installed at the school gate and locations the parents and teachers think could be dangerous."

This is of course what will happen in Iceland a couple of years after the institution of the car chip.

Hackers and geeks for liberty

2004-07-09T15:02:00.000Z

I've been wondering what individuals can do when faced with the overwhelming power of the state coupled with the force-multiplier that is modern technology, as in the Orwellian proposals outlined here. Should we turn Luddite and smash the plastic tools of computerized oppression?

Nah. I'm much to attached to the Internet for such drastic action.

We can, however, fight the government on technological terms. Like the proverbial gun who doesn't kill anyone - the computerchip doesn't spy on anyone, or intrude on anyone's privacy. The chip and all the techonlogical paraphernalia can be used for good as well as for evil.

This is the system the Icelandic statists are so keen to expand and use in every single car in the Land. Can't someone crack the code it's software is written in, and be ready with a patch for general distribution when the crap hits the fan?

I am not advocating the vandalism of private property, and if the proposal is not carried through I will of course be against the hacking of the system - which is made by a private company for other private companies. If, however, a derivative of this same system is used by the government to spy on free citizens I have no qualms about people vandalizing the equipment to their hearts' content - I just would like to be able to vandalize without the cops finding out - hence my plea to skilled hackers and computers geeks everywhere.

Damning

2004-07-09T14:11:00.000Z

"Maybe Michael Moore is a man for our time. That's a pretty damning indictment of our time."

Cathy Young in Reason Magazine.

White Rose

2004-07-09T12:59:00.000Z

The excellent people of White Rose have seen fit to honor me with a link. I thank them and welcome all guests from Thorn.

What next - Telescreens?

2004-07-09T09:23:00.000Z

The government has just fired a broadside against civil liberties in Iceland. The Minister for Transportation, the Chief of Police in Reykjavík and the state "Traffic authority" have all let lose in just two days.

Yesterday this article was published in the Morgunblaðið newspaper, for which I work. Excerpts:

"New ways to cut the number of road accidents have to be found, and one possible way is to install computer chips in every car and thereby increase the amount of government monitoring of driving. This was among other things mentioned in a speech by Böðvar Bragason, Chief of Police in Reykjavík, about the annual report of the office."

'I think there isn't enough discussion about these things and that we are struggling with the same things for years or even decades, regarding something which is supposed to improve traffic safety, but doesn't.'

Böðvar said there was a reason to ascertain whether technology couldn't be used to greater effect, than it has been, in the fight against road accidents.

'I want to propose an increase in the number of surveilance cameras on intersections in the city, but I also want a task force to inspect wether technology can be used in the cars themselves. I have the idea, which can easily be implemented, to put a computer chip in every single car. The Police then could stop a given car, connect with the chip and see the way the car has been driven that day, and even before that day.'"

Those of you who don't read english will have to trust me to have translated that properly - I know it sounds incredible.

The statist's utopia.
I really don't know what to say or do about this. The idea is so odious to me that I would think the negative aspects of it should be obvious to everyone. The Icelandic home secretary (who is also the attorney general) is, however, too much of a Blunkett to do anything about it. I actually think he would find this quite appealing, and would support this sort of legislation.

Today the same paper published four seperate articles. One asking the "man on the street" what he thought of the plan; another detailing a massive speeding frenzy in a large town in the north of Iceland - Akureyri (apparently quite a lot of people were cought driving over the limit); third telling the readers that speeding was the major cause of fatal road accidents - and announcing a newly launched government campaing against speeding and the fourth telling of a speech made by transport secretary where he expressed the view that more speed cameras and computer chips in cars were quite nifty ideas (not all articles make it to the online edition).

The first article was a bit depressing, but with a ray of hope. Two out of the four people asked (or whose answers were published) expressed a negative opinion of the proposal while the other two thought it a "step in the right direction" and "a very good thing". Of course it is a depressing fact that there are people out there who think this is a reasonable way to reduce the number of accidents on the roads, but the ray of hope is that the sensible two were quite a bit younger than the middle-aged statists.

The other three articles were the standard scarmongering fare that seems to accompany these sorts of proposed slashings of our personal liberties. The aim here is to convince us that we live in constant, immediate danger of being killed or mutilated on the roads and that "something" has to be done. That "something" is not usually something wich will actually have any effect other than to tighten the rope around our necks.

The statist can never be happy as long as individuals have some modicum of freedom of action and travel, hence these proposals. This kind of surveilance system, coupled with a court system which allows for any and all evidence to be submitted in a criminal trial - without regard to how it was obtained (f.ex. illegal wiretaps are admissable), is a brutal attack on the personal liberties of Icelanders.

Armed revolt would seem a better option if it wasn't for the draconian gun control laws here.

Quotation

2004-07-08T12:59:00.000Z

"Laws are spider webs through which the big flies pass and the little ones get caught in."

Honoré de Balzac

For the nerds

2004-07-08T09:40:00.000Z

This is just too cool (check out the section number).
Hat-tip: Catallarchy.

The new puritanism

2004-07-05T10:25:00.000Z

From the Adam Smith Institute Blog:

"There is a new Puritanism about. The original Puritans, you will recall, opposed bear-baiting not because it was cruel to the bears but because it gave pleasure to the people. And today, anything you might do to enjoy yourself - smoking, boozing, and now even eating - incurs a similar injunction from the politicians. Their idea of a perfect society seems to be one in which we all walk sheepishly to work and back, consume a bowl of thin gruel, and then go quietly to bed at nine o'clock."

This fall the government of Iceland is set to propose a ban on smoking in bars, cafes and restaurants, just like Tony Blair's government is trying to do in Britain. A pox on all statists!

'Cause it's the Fourth

2004-07-04T12:45:00.000Z

He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself.

- Thomas Paine

I prefer liberty with danger to peace with slavery.

- Author Unknown

Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.

- George Bernard Shaw

Many politicians are in the habit of laying it down as a self-evident proposition that no people ought to be free till they are fit to use their freedom. The maxim is worthy of the fool in the old story who resolved not to go into the water till he had learned to swim.

- Thomas Macaulay

By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes is his duty against the influence of authority and majorities, custom and opinion.

- Lord Acton

Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.

- John Quincy Adams

Perhaps the fact that we have seen millions voting themselves into complete dependence on a tyrant has made our generation understand that to choose one's government is not necessarily to secure freedom.

- Fredrich August von Hayek

...if we wish to preserve a free society, it is essential that we recognize that the desirability of a particular object is not sufficient justification for the use of coercion.

- Fredrich August von Hayek

We must plan for freedom, and not only for security, if for no other reason than only freedom can make security more secure.

- Karl Popper

Freedom is never free.

- Author Unknown

We're proud too, Fred.

2004-07-02T16:56:00.000Z

From a letter written in November/December 1846 by Friedrich Engels and addressed to Karl Marx:

"...[T]he Icelander, who still continues to speak exactly the same language as the unwashed Vikings of anno 900, swills whale oil, lives in a mud hut and goes to pieces in any atmosphere that does not reek of rotten fish. I have several times felt tempted to be proud of the fact that I am at least no Dane, nor yet an Icelander, but merely a German."

Hat-tip: Willy Sutton (Icelandic version).

...another thing.

2004-07-02T15:13:00.000Z

I've been thinking about my last couple of posts. I hope I haven't given the impression that Iceland is a libertarian paradise, where children play happily with tax-free kites, unfettered by oppressive government.

We still pay 38% income tax.

We still subsidize agriculture by billions of Kronur per year, a staggering amount for such a small economy.

The manufacture of agricultural products, mainly mutton and milk, is governed by a quota system designed to keep the price of said products as high as possible.

The import of dairy, and other agricultural products is severely limited by law and custom duties.

We have a nationalized health system.

We have a nationalized education system, from the age 6 upwards.

Gun ownership for self-defence is illegal - hunting shotguns and rifles only.

Affirmative action in favour of women is the rule here.

We have a state run TV station and two state run radio stations.

We have a state run Theatre, and city-run theatres in Reykjavik and Akureyri (there might be more).

We have a state run Symphony orchestra.

We have a slew of state subsidized sports clubs, football teams and the like.

The state has a monopoly on selling alcohol, including beer and wine.

The police has powers here that would make our American friends sweat blood - just one example: Evindence acquired by illegal means is still admissable in court, the policeman in question still has to face disciplinary action.

That's just off the top of my head. And this is the situation after 13 years of government headed by a man who has done more to move the country in the direction of freedom than any other in decades. Imagine how things must have been around 1990!

I ask any Icelandic readers to add to the list in the comments section.

Hollywood takes on Iceland

2004-07-02T10:22:00.000Z

This is a couple of days old, but is still relevant.

"U.S. cinematographers and other film industry workers have asked the Bush administration to take action against Canadian, Australian and other government filmmaking subsidies that they say have lured away tens of thousands of jobs.

[...]

The groups charged the Canadian federal and provincial governments with offering a wide array of subsidies to encourage film and television production in Canada. They also accused Australia of offering "lavish" tax breaks and other incentives to entice movie production.

The success of those countries has encouraged many European countries, as well as Brazil, Iceland, New Zealand and South Africa, to offer similar incentives..."

Hollywood is, of course, famously partisan in its support of the Democratic party, but I think that Bush has acquired such a strong reputation as a protectionist president that everybody, and their uncle, are now about to knock on his door, screaming for ever more protection of "American jobs". I also think that as the November elections loom ever closer, Bush will be more and more inclined to give them what they want.

In an interview with the Morgunblaðið newspaper (where I, incidentally work) the minister for trade and industry, Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, said today:

"I think the Americans should do something about the logs in their eyes before bothering us about any splinters that might be in ours."

What is this - the middle ages?

2004-07-02T10:07:00.000Z

John Kerry is no idol of mine but this really is beyond the Pale (emphasis mine).

"A Catholic lawyer has filed heresy charges against Sen. John Kerry with the Archdiocese of Boston, accusing the Democratic presidential candidate of bringing "most serious scandal to the American public" by receiving Holy Communion as a pro-choice Catholic."

Hat-tip: Andrew Sullivan.

Rate hike

2004-07-02T09:35:00.000Z

The Bank of Iceland raised interest rates yesterday by 0.5% and they now stand at 6.25%. This is the third rate increase since early May when the rates stood at 5.3%. The hike itself did not come as a surprise to analysts, but in general they were expecting a smaller increase than half a percentage point. The Bank of Iceland is expected to raise interest rates again in the immediate future, as inflation is reaching the upper limits set by the bank.

Key interest rates since 1994 (courtesy of the Landsbankinn bank).

~~Inflation~~ Consumer Price Index for the last 12 months. The solid yellow line marks the target inflation rate set by the Bank of Iceland, while the dotted lines mark the upper and lower limits set by the bank (courtesy of the Íslandsbanki bank).

Bloody hell!

2004-07-01T15:22:00.000Z

William Sutton, the mysterious Icelander, kindly pointed me to an old post of his. It's a must read; abso-bloody-lutely.

Try voting robbery!

2004-07-01T14:41:00.000Z

This is a poster made by the guys over at catallarchy. ~~At the moment I am linking straight to the image on their server but when I get home I will move the pic onto my server so as not to leech to much bandwidth.~~ (Done) - The poster is a spoof of this one.

Update
Took out the link to jiffylux's image. Will host it on my server. Also took out the image made by catallarchy as there is another one out there which doesn't infringe on any copyrights, as I am informed that this one does. All this will be remedied later today (July 22. 2004).

Me cockles be warmed

2004-07-01T10:40:00.000Z

Courtesy of Vox Day.

"For the social problems: We demand:

a) The quick enactment of a law of the State that sanctions an eight-hour workday for all workers.

b) A minimum wage.

c) The participation of workers' representatives in the functions of industry commissions.

d) To show the same confidence in the labor unions (that prove to be technically and morally worthy) as is given to industry executives or public servants.

e) The rapid and complete systemization of the railways and of all the transport industries.

f) A necessary modification of the insurance laws to invalidate the minimum retirement age; we propose to lower it from 65 to 55 years of age."

From the 1919 manifesto of the Italian Fascist party, written by Benito Mussolini. Sounds familiar don't it?

A pacifist fallacy

2004-06-30T19:07:00.000Z

The Icelandic government made the decision in 2003 to be a part of the Coalition of the Willing, and has been a supporter of the US-led War on Terror and the War in Iraq. The Icelandic opposition, with the "pacifist" red-green alliance in front have criticized that decision on numerous grounds (always with the underlying assumption that THIS war is evil because it's being waged by American troops - the Palestinian "struggle" is not supported by the US, and therefor it is not Evil - but I digress).

One of the attacks on the government is based on the fact that the decision to enter the war wasn't presented to Alþingi (the parliament) for approval, but that the leaders of the two coalition parties, the prime minister and the foreign minister, made the decision themselves and then acted on it.

This is true. Iceland did practically declare war on another country and the decision was made by two men. This is also a state of affairs which is altogether unacceptable.

The decision to declare war on another country is one of the gravest and most important any government can make, and therefore there should be safeguards against that kind of decision being made lightly.

The awkward fact of the matter is, however, that in the pacifist constitution of Iceland there are no provisions on how to declare war! It is acknowledged in various statutes that Iceland can be at war, just one example is art. 89 in the criminal code of 1940.

"If an Icelandic citizen takes up arms in war against the Icelandic state or its allies, he shall be sentenced to no less than two years imprisonment.

"He who, when the Icelandic state is at war, or when war is imminent, offers aid and comfort to its enemies, either in word or deed, or in any other way weakens the resolve of the Icelandic state or its allies, shall suffer the same sentence."

This (loosely translated) article clearly shows that it's assumed that Iceland can be legally at war with another country.

Some of my foreign brothers might now ask "what's the big problem here? Just throw in an amendment to the constitution stipulating parliamentary consent to any and all warmongering - that should straighten things out" - and they would be right.

The problem however lies - as it so often does - with my socialist, "pacifist" countrymen. They stubbornly hold to the notion that Iceland is and always shall be neutral and therefore they can't bide the thought that the possibility of war be codified in law - even if such codification would doubtlessly lessen the chances of Iceland being at war!

It's kind of like the mentally ill person who thinks that "only sick people eat pills - therefore if I don't eat my pills, I'm not sick".

I happen to think that the government was both right and courageous to stick with the US and UK in the war - even if we couldn't offer much material support. The decision to start a war is however much too important a decicion to leave the process as is. As with all government activities, we need to make it as difficult for the state to do what it wants to do - even when it wants to do things we approve of.

Another quote

2004-06-29T16:25:00.000Z

"As a test of the state of "Bush the Nazi" rhetoric, I went to Google and typed in "Bush is a Nazi" and got 420,000 hits, well behind "Hitler was a Nazi" (654,000 hits) but then Hitler WAS a Nazi and had a 75-year head start."

John Leo, on Townhall.com.

Quote quandary

2004-06-29T15:13:00.000Z

The Samizdatistas have this to say about James Lileks' run-in with a young statist:

"Mr. Lileks, sturdy Midwesterner that he is, believes people should should earn their money. His earnest young interlocutor, following in the sadly well-worn path of Minnesota socialism, thinks money should shower down like manna from heaven."

OK, when you quote someone quoting someone else - is that metaquoting?

Metaphorical memes

2004-06-28T18:17:00.000Z

Analogies and metaphors are often powerful weapons on the battleground of ideas. A vivid metaphor can become a very successful meme and be instrumental in winning, or losing, a given rhetorical battle.

A very effective metaphor used by the anti-smoking lobby here in Iceland is the one that smoking in a restaurant/bar/cafe is like peeing in a public pool. You wouldn't like to swim in a pool with "peeing" and "non-peeing" areas would you - so you shouldn't want to have non-smoking areas in restaurants either.

This metaphor is effective because it is at first glance wholly applicable (i.e. corresponds point by point to restaurant smoking) and is extremely vivid - it rouses feelings of disgust in the average person.

It is however inadequate - or at least it leaves out some things which really ought not to be left out.

First is the point that if I own a pool and want to be able to pee in it, and allow others to pee in it - I should be allowed to, right? If there is a sign by the pool which states that this is a wiz-friendly pool, why shouldn't people who like that sort of thing be allowed to swim in foreign urine? It isn't as if the world is one pool which we all have to swim in - there are millions of pools, large and small, and if some people want to pee in their pools - however disgusting we find the practice - who are we to prohibit that?

It's the same with bars and restaurants - there are millions of bars and restaurants, all of them privately owned, and no one is forced to visit any one of them. Some people (the staff) are even paid to spend time in them, but can leave at any time.

The second point is that the only logical argument in favor of banning smoking is that second hand smoke may be harmful. The metaphor, however, only stresses the "ick" factor - pee is disgusting and so (the argument goes) is smoke. Pee, however, is not harmful in any way, and swimming in diluted urine might even be healthy (They used the stuff for washing wool in Iceland for centuries - it has certain soap-like attributes). You can't seriously advocate that the government ban an activity just because it is "icky"!

As I said in the beginning metaphors and analogies can be powerful weapons, and if we are to win the battle of ideas and bury socialism for good, we must be able to use those weapons effectively and also be able to find the flaws in the weapons of the oposition and point them out before the meme takes its' viral hold on the collective intellect.

I'm of course all in favor of good libertarian memes taking viral holds where ever they can get their little hands to grip.

Links

2004-06-28T17:28:00.000Z

I'd like to thank John Ray and Willy Sutton for linking to my post on the Icelandic economic progress during the nineties. I'd also like to congratulate Shay on being the first to comment on a post by me. These three are excellent bloggers and I recommend their blogs to all and sundry.

I also think it's kind of cool that John is Australian, Willy is Icelandic and Shay is American. God bless the Internet.

Aid and Comfort

2004-06-28T15:48:00.000Z

Click for larger image.

Tax-ice-ion (damn, that's good punnin')

2004-06-24T17:33:00.000Z

Veronique de Rugy writes a rather flattering account of the Icelandic economy and Icelandic economic evolution over the last fifteen years or so, corresponding roughly with the term of our current, but soon to be former, prime minister, Davíð Oddsson. Mr. Oddson gave a talk at the American Enterprise Institute on June 16. this year.

Mr. Oddson is not a libertarian, but a free market conservative of the Scandinavian variety (a little more of an economic socialist than conservatives in the US, and a little more liberal in personal matters than US conservatives). That said, it has to be acknowledged that Iceland has enjoyed almost unprecedented growth under his leadership, and that is largely thanks to the fact that he acted on his promised liberalization of the economy - unlike most politicians in the West.

The situation when he took power in 1991 was bleak, to say the least.

"Political power infused the entire financial system, which could hardly be distinguished from the political system. Furthermore, the fiscal position at the start of the nineteen-nineties was far from acceptable. The persistent Treasury deficit and the mounting debt that accompanied it were, in my opinion, one of the greatest threats to the Icelandic economy in those years. A recession in the early nineteen-nineties, which was caused among other things when the all-important cod quota had to be cut back by as much as one half, compounded the existing problem."

The solution, according to Mr. Oddson, quoting Milton Freedman, was "freedom", and lots of it.

"The freedom of the individual and the freedom of the nation are the foundation of all well-being--spiritual and material alike. The motive behind attacking the Treasury deficit was not only its bad economic consequences. An equally important consideration was that a persistent deficit is a sure-fire recipe for higher taxes in the future, and higher taxes erode the freedom of the individual."

The Oddson government cut taxes and public expenses left and right and now, although we still have a nationalized health care and education systems we enjoy a lower tax burden than most Europeans and more economic freedom and growth.

The following is a table of GDP in Iceland from 1990 to 2003, with the GDP of 1990 being 100. It is based on information from the Icelandic Government.

YEAR - GDPINDX
1990 - 100.00
1991 - 100.10
1992 - 96.79
1993 - 97.56
1994 - 101.49
1995 - 101.58
1996 - 106.88
1997 - 111.87
1998 - 118.12
1999 - 123.07
2000 - 129.96
2001 - 133.44
2002 - 132.73
2003 - 138.07

As you can see, the first couple of years under Mr. Oddsson were not pleasant. There was much tightening of belts and growling of stomachs. However in 1996 this austerity started to pay off and in the ensuing 8 years the economy advanced by leaps and bounds.

The following is a table of GDP per capita ( in $US) from 1990 to 2003. PPP adjusted numbers come first after the year, and the second column is the unadjusted GDP per capita.

YEAR - PPP ADJ - UNADJ
1990 - $20,452 - $24,978
1991 - $20,952 - $26,373
1992 - $20,504 - $26,690
1993 - $20,974 - $23,178
1994 - $22,106 - $23,601
1995 - $22,497 - $26,139
1996 - $23,969 - $27,130
1997 - $25,275 - $27,241
1998 - $26,279 - $29,214
1999 - $27,136 - $30,363
2000 - $27,927 - $29,850
2001 - $28,968 - $26,683
2002 - $28,381 - $29,600
2003 - $29,199 - $36,320

This table tells the same story, and shows clearly how well the country is doing now. Of course we could be doing even better with even lower taxes and less regulation. Thankfully Mr. Oddsson has plans:

"Personal income tax has already been lowered and during the current government’s term of office it will be reduced by a further four percentage points. An income tax surcharge on the highest incomes will also be removed, and inheritance tax has been reduced and harmonised at a level which will never exceed 5 percent. In addition, it is planned to reduce value-added tax on food, which will benefit the lowest income groups in particular. I am convinced that these tax cuts will greatly strengthen the Icelandic economy well into the future. And not just the economy. The whole of society flourishes and becomes more diverse when each and every one of us keeps more of what we earn and can dispose of it as we please."

As I said in the beginning, Mr. Oddsson is a conservative politician, and I find quite a number of his past actions and present beliefs unpalatable. But if I can't get a Libertarian PM, I'll settle for a conservative of Mr. Oddsson's caliber.

I now declare the love-fest over and will go back to bashing the conservatives for their statist attacks on free speech (the current row in Iceland).

Something to ponder

2004-06-23T10:40:00.000Z

"Care for language is more than a concern for purity. When one describes President Bush as a fascist, what words remain for real fascists? When one describes Fallujah as Stalingrad-like, how can we express, in the words that remain to the language, what Stalingrad was like?

"George Orwell wrote that the English language "becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts." In taking care with language, we take care of ourselves."
Bret Stephens in the Wall Street Journal.

More good news from ICEX

2004-06-23T09:26:00.000Z

Compared with the major Indexes the Icelandic ICEX-15 index is really in a league of its own. From the start of the year ICEX has risen by more than 40%, while the Norwegian OBX index has risen by a respectable 13%. Other Indexes have not made it above 10%!

The rise has for the large part been driven in huge advances in the stock prises of a couple of large companies, Össur, Marel, KB Bank and Bakkavör in particular. Foreign investors have shown considerable interest in Össur and Marel and the rise in KB Bank and Bakkavör is fueled by the foreign acquisitions of the two companies, in the Danish investment bank FIH by KB Bank and in the food distributor Geest plc by Bakkavör.

Analysts are not of the opinion that this is a temporary bubble as the rise in the aforementioned companies is not based on speculation alone but genuine, long-term investment and increase in assets.

Some investors have said that the Icelandic currency, the Króna, or rather the fact that we have a special currency (as opposed to the EUro) is a hindrance to foreign investment, but the markets seem to prove them wrong. Something to keep in mind when the EUrocrats try to squeeze us into the EU in the future.

Ouch!

2004-06-22T16:32:00.000Z

"The economic boom of the 1990s proved to be partly a financial bubble that we now know began to burst with the stock market break in April 2000. The growth that was real resulted less from any specific policy than from the gridlock between Mr. Clinton and the GOP Congress that kept government from doing much at all after 1994. No period since the 1920s was as free of new federal intrusion."

The Wall Street Journal, giving minarchists everywhere ammunition in the fight for smaller government and real seperation of power. Sadly Iceland is burdened with too much government interference in the affairs of its citizens, and a parliamentary system which all but gives the executive dictatorial power over the legislative branch. That, coupled with complete authority in judicial appointments - parliament has no say in the matter - makes all talk of seperation of power in Iceland a joke.

A fair description

2004-06-22T12:18:00.000Z

The Guardian is probably not the best source for "big issues", but it is the only big paper that once in a while reports on Icelandic affairs. This piece on the recent crisis over the media law (which The Guardian calls "The Baugur Law") and the ensuing constitutional crisis is factually correct.

As I said earlier it is sad that an otherwise excellent prime minister has decided to soil his legacy with legislation as oppressive and statist as this.

The only argument for the law has been the, admittedly severe, bias in some privately owned media against the government. That a center-right government is actually moving against the press because of the editorial policies of some its members is not libertarian, it's not even conservative - it smacks of totalitarianism. It's an ugly thing to say about a man who has done more to liberalize the icelandic economy than any other since the independence hero Jón Sigurðsson in the 1870's - but it's not far from the truth.

The quote

2004-06-22T11:42:00.000Z

"To describe this film [Farenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore] as dishonest and demagogic would almost be to promote those terms to the level of respectability. To describe this film as a piece of crap would be to run the risk of a discourse that would never again rise above the excremental."
Christopher Hitchens in Slate.

Science - not fiction

2004-06-22T11:40:00.000Z

"Scientists have performed successful teleportation on atoms for the first time, the journal Nature reports."

Amazing

2004-06-22T11:09:00.000Z

For the last twelve months the Icelandic Icex-15 index has more than doubled. The combined value of all stocks registered with the Icelandic Stock Exchange is more than the 2003 GDP of Iceland! If this isn't good news, I don't know what is.

When the current prime minister, Davíð Oddson, took power in 1991, every analyst was predicting doom and gloom for the future of Iceland. Inflation and unemployment was rife and overreglulation was crushing business everywhere.

Over the last 13 years all banks have been privatized, along with countless other former state-run businesses, taxes have been lowered - especially on business - the national bank has been given its independence. Now the GDP per capita is among the best in the world, only slightly lower than in the States, and considerably higher than in the EU (big surprise).

It's a shame the PM is soiling an otherwise incomparable legacy with his recent tantrums and moves against the freedom of speech and of the press.

Metallica and the Cause

2004-06-20T17:06:00.000Z

Metallica is coming here to Reykjavik and the concert is going to be held, on all days, on the fourth of July. For that reason I find it appropriate to publish the lyrics to one of their best songs, with some links inserted for the readers enjoyment and enlightenment.

Metallica: Don't Tread on Me.

Liberty or death, what we so proudly hail
Once you provoke her, rattling of her tail
Never begins it, never, but once engaged...
Never surrenders, showing the fangs of rage

Don’t tread on me

So be it
Threaten no more
To secure peace is to prepare for war
So be it
Settle the score
Touch me again for the words that you’ll hear evermore...

Don’t tread on me

Love it or live it, she with the deadly bite
Quick is the blue tongue, forked as lighting strike
Shining with brightness, always on surveillance
The eyes, they never close, emblem of vigilance

Don’t tread on me

So be it
Threaten no more
To secure peace is to prepare for war
So be it
Settle the score
Touch me again for the words that you’ll hear evermore...

Don’t tread on me

So be it
Threaten no more
To secure peace is to prepare for war

Liberty or death, what we so proudly hail
Once you provoke her, rattling on her tail

So be it
Threaten no more
To secure peace is to prepare for war
So be it
Settle the score
Touch me again for the words that you’ll hear evermore...

Don’t tread on me.

New Blogger

2004-05-10T17:25:00.000Z

I kind of like this new blogger. Some of my friends do not, and cite their uncontrollable conservatism as a reason. Screw them.