Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Iceland, the sinking island

Iceland has been hit hard by the financial crisis. Banks have defaulted, unemployment is rising and the currency has lost 80% of its value. Now Iceland is one of the first countries to go bankrupt.

Icelands bars are the countrys only success story of recent months. A lot of people come in now, says bartender Ludvig Ludvigsson, they drink because they feel that their lives are finished. Many of those coming in were previously wealthy bankers made unemployed by the crash. When the Landisank Bank went down it was particularly bad, recalls Ludvigsson. Senior policeman Geir Thorisson has also seen how fast things have changed since the banks defaulted in October. As money runs short theft is on the rise. But this is not the only problem the police face; protesters gather outside banks and government buildings and the mood often becomes violent. There are individuals who want go much further, to take down the entire administration, sack the parliament. In the docklands, construction sites for luxury flats lie abandoned next to the half-built National Opera House. Everyone is affected, says Rev Palmi Matthiasson. Kids listen to their parents whispering in the night time about losing their jobs, selling the house, how they will face the next day. And maybe we have not reached the bottom yet.

(Source: www.youtube.com)

What happen when a country go bankrupt? The following video on "Iceland Faces Financial Meltdown", dated Oct 2008, will tell you the answer.



The lesson from Iceland is, we need to closely monitor the representatives we have voted, the government formed, how they use the country's resources, and reserves. Any individual investor should not fall into the predator marketing of the bank or any financial institution, need to understand the investment, otherwise avoid investment in financial instrument you do not understand. Monitor the financial institution and your investment closely.

The last, not to be greedy, history always repeated.....

Watch the video, "The Sinking Island, Iceland(Nov 2008)" at the www.youtube.com; and open our eyes to all possibilities that may happen when country go bankrupt ; and remember, do not put all your investment in one basket, spread the risks........

We prayed for Iceland, that they will overcome......

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