A Small Prediction

The Independence Party's meeting is looking more and more like it wll be a repeat of the Progressive Party's meeting.  Someone younger and less from the mainstream is most likely to be the chairperson while one of  the prominent females of the party wants only to be the vice chairperson.  If people remember that this is the "two trips to the Olympics with husband-in-tow all expenses paid plus dagpeningar" former Minister of Education then I predict she will end up just like Sif, a loser.

GTB

Þorgerður Katrín ekki í formannskjör

Everyone Is Happy

After giving it much thought, I have finally come up with a solution to the Davið Oddsson/Central Bank issue.  I think that all involved will be equally pleased and disappointed at exactly the same time meaning it either absolute genius or complete stupidity.  I favor the former myself.The solution is so simple I am totally surprised that no one in the Althing has thought of it first. (Not really).  The solution is to NOT fire Davið.  That's right. DO NOT FIRE HIM.  Perfect!  Yes Johanna, when you amend the bill on the Central Bank don't give the government the power to remove the chairman.  Just change his job description- Demote him! Simple!  And insert a new position into the Central Bank with a new name, maybe President or Czar or something along that line and give that new position the chairman's old power.  What to do with the chairman, you ask?  Assign him tasks that he can perform to help the new President (or Czar) of the Central Bank's job easier.  For example, changing the toner in the copier, or making coffee in the morning . Very critical work in Iceland I have learned.( Not joking)  OR , even better, he can assure that everyone has a seat for meetings in the conference room - then he can still be called the Chair Man!

 And everyone is happy.  The Independence party is happy because Davið stays in the Central Bank (and out of politics).  The new government is happy because Davið is no longer in charge and they didn’t have to do something that seemed political and fire him. The people are also happy because he is no longer in charge or in politics. And finally Davið is happy because he can say that he never resigned and they couldn’t fire him.  He gets his same pay as before and why not; he is doing basically the same job as he did before – not much at all.

10.02.2009

It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office. - H.L. Mencken

Even More Reasons

In a comment to a previous blog, Baldur said:

Tell me one reason why Davíð should resign?  Why is his responesebility more than Jóhannas for exsample?? Wasnt she a part of the government wich ruled when everything collapsed?  People in Iceland need someone to blame for all the mess they are in.  Fact is that most people have them self to blame for the shit they are in.

In response to his comments I quickly posted (amended here) five really good reasons:

1. He is a politician.  I have already explained why having a politician as the head of a central bank is a bad idea.

2. He is not qualified to do the job.  Central banks don't lend themselves well to on the job training.

3. Taking a 75% share in Glitnir(later anulled by the nationalization of the bank), essentually making private debt sovereign debt.

4. The pegging of the kronur ( My personal favorite).  It will go down in the economic books as the shortest in history (one day) and probably the dumbest. This, by the way, helps the "not qualified " argument.

5. For implying on national television (Kastljós) that Iceland would not cover the debts of the banks.  This one alone is grounds for dismissal in any normal circumstance.  Could you imagine the financial and political fallout in the US if Bernacke had said something to that effect?

Add to that the governments request, the peoples demands, and some well respected economists views http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=azSpFJ5UHFA0  and that pretty much sums up why he should resign.   I have never blamed Davið or anyone else for the mess that Iceland is in. I am stating that he should resign based on affiliation, education and work performance. Non-biased objective reasoning.  Something most politicians and their party members have never heard of.

GTB

Christensen: Neyðarlegt að Davíð segi ekki af sér

09.02.2009

It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong. -- Thomas Sowell

Shame

Shame - n. 1 distress or humiliation caused by consciousness of one's guilt, dishonour or folly. 2 capacity for feeling this  3  state of discrace or discredit 4 a person or thing that brings discrace etc. b thing that is wrong or regrettable - from the Oxford Dictionary of Current English

Since Davið Oddsson doesn't know the meaning of this word it is posted here for him and perhaps other Icelandic politicians.

After the terrible terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India in November 2008, several Indian ministers resigned their posts.  Why did these ministers resign? Did they cause the attacks? Did they kill all those people? Are they solely responsible for the failures in the securtiy services of India? The answer to all these questions is obviously "no" and yet they did resign;  they felt quilty because maybe they should have forseen the event, and discraced because the security system failed to live up to the standard that they would have expected.  In short they felt shame.  

One needs to understand what shame is and be capable of feeling its effect to have the courage required to resign.  And for that, one needs to have a conscience.   Do you need that defined for you too, Davið?

 GTB

 

Davíð segir ekki af sér

08.02.2009

What this country needs is more unemployed politicians. -- Edward Langley

Missed Opportunity

I said it to my wife, when Davið Oddsson was retiring from politics and becoming the head of the Central Bank, that rule number one, in central bank policy, is that you never, ever, ever put a politician in charge of a central bank. NEVER.  One reason, of course, is that his appointment to the bank could appear, and usually is, politically motivated.   Another reason is that when he does or says anything, it can be construed, and often is, as being politically motivated. And lastly, when a new government made up of opposition parties tries to remove this politically appointed government employee it can also be construed, and often is, as being politically motivated. 

So, in Iceland there is a former prime minister, without any degree in economics, who is also a member of the former ruling party, appointed to the Central Bank by the former ruling party, who has said and done things that seem  politically biased. And now he is trying to be removed by the new government of opposition parties that may have an axe to grind. All of this could have been avoided. If only my wife had passed the information along.

GTB

07.02.2009

 Government is actually the worst failure of civilized man. There has never been a really good one and even those governments that are most tolerable are arbitrary, cruel, grasping and unintelligent. - H.L. Mencken

All Publicity is Good Publicity

It is a weak argument to say that commercial whaling will have a negative effect on tourism in Iceland.  On the contrary, ever since Iceland began scientific whaling in 2003 and commercial whaling in 2006, Iceland has been featured in the news around the world.  The news stories are generally negative in dealing with whaling but that negativity usually comes long after the story describes Iceland's natural beauty, clean water and air and geothermal wonders.  These reports, with their good and bad, put Iceland on the map for people who maybe never before had considered it a tourist destination. Subsequently tourism has not decreased as some had feared but has actually increased by a great deal as the information from Hagstofa Íslands shows - "The number of foreign tourist visiting Iceland in 2007was 485 thousand compared with 303 thousand in 2000. The increase was 60% during this period." Iceland couldn't do better than that if it tried. Sure there will be the anti-whaling folk that will boycott Iceland but so be it. You can't please everyone. Steingrimur is about to discover that fact now that he has decided to review the five year whaling quota.

Iceland should just go ahead and hunt whales.  It is not possible to manage a fishing stock without managing its predators and competitors.  Culling is in itself sole justification to whale.  Forget about endangered species, or painful deaths, or no market, or whatever other reasons the members of the IWC (should be called the anti-whaling commision)and Greenpeace conjour up to stop whaling  because it would not matter one bit if there were ten million whales, they could be killed instantly and painlessly and Icelanders ate whale meat five times a week.  Those members and their supporters will NEVER let commercial whaling begin again.  It is that simple. And if Icelanders feel the need to have a market, try establishing a pet food factory that uses whale meat or a biodiesel plant that uses whale blubber.  How do you think that would go over with Greenpeace?

GTB

(unofficial whaling industry spokesperson)

 

 

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