The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #121035 Message #2637852
Posted By: Emma B
21-May-09 - 03:28 PM
Thread Name: BS: IMF
Subject: RE: BS: IMF
Many of your countrymen apparently do not share your views skarpi!
David Oddson leader of the right wing Inependence Party served as Icelandic Prime minister from 1991 to 2004 and Foreign minister from 2004-5 before taking up chairman of the board of governors of the Central Bank of Iceland which was behind the whole ideology of the extreme market freedom and deregulation, that created an unsustainable financial system nine times the size of its gross domestic product (GDP).
After the collapse of the bank his actions as the chairman of the board were seriously questioned and there were demands for his resignation both by the Icelandic public and by Icelandic Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
The nationalistic, conservative Independence party is now out of power, both in government and banking, but its 'youth arm' the SUS (many over 30 years old) have agreed to pursue that Iceland adopts the US dollar - they want to talk to the IMF and a deal be made to allow Iceland to use the USD as a reference in commerce and business
The Nestor Media blog however argues that -
'Without a foreign currency change for Iceland, and the only sensible thing is to get the Euro, things will only get worse. But the strange thing about this SUS idea is the fact that the Independence party has been adamant to keep the ISK. All their actions either political or economical have had one aim only. Do not enter the EU and fight to the death to keep the ISK.
But, with the economy destabilizing and the currency all over the place, support for joining the EU is growing
A poll published in 2008 by the Icelandic daily Fréttabladid showed that 68% of Icelanders would be willing to open membership negotiations with the EU.