Social Progress Amidst Ruination

After the titanic financial and governmental blow-out, Iceland seems to have found new footing. A caretaker coalition government has been formed, to manage the nation until elections in April. Heading the coalition is Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, the first openly sexual minority national leader in modern history.

Such firsts seem to be coming faster as the Depression deepens: the United States has recently elected Barack Obama as President. Perhaps such changes will become ever more commonplace in the world, as growing financial concerns override bigotry and social divisiveness. It's a sad commentary that it took a depression to help forge these social changes...

Nevertheless, we feel Ms. Jóhanna seems to be a strong and capable leader. We look forwards to seeing what the Jóhanna Government will do for Iceland in the coming months. We also look forward to the Obama Administration over the next four years; we aren't holding our breath about his policies, but we might be wrong in our estimation of him.

Racing to the Next National Blow-Out

As the financial hydrogen bomb cloud over Iceland begins to fade, her citizens are beginning to adjust to life in a long, cold nuclear winter. Surrounded by a glow-in-the-dark landscape, and a currency that burns to the touch, they've begun to pick over the ruins of their previous life. With a new coalition government in the works, and the age-old practice of whaling to provide jobs, Iceland will probably pull through... though she will be vastly changed. We hope they can find some whales.

Frankly, though -- and not to seem callous -- Iceland was a weak hand. One can call upon the Galbraith Financial Principle: the best and biggest will fail last. Iceland was neither biggest, nor the best; she was merely the first country squashed flat by the 2007 Depression. The question one should be asking is not how will Iceland pull through, but rather, who's next. This piece has a very good list: Great Britain, Latvia, Greece, Ukraine, Nicaragua. We would add Mexico to this list; however, these are probably the next countries to go.

Personally, we would put our money on Great Britain: she's in rough shape, and with the annihilation of the pound sterling in the works, the Brown Government could very well go to pieces a la Iceland. When governments say they aren't concerned about the value of its issued currency, bad things can happen. The Brown Government may feel it's on top of the situation, but it's no more in control than Zimbabwe's.

Then there is the terrible crime of hubris: Mr. Paul Marshall recently told a Treasury committee that a Madoff scandal in the U.K. is "very unlikely." Funny, but we remember Mr. Madoff himself saything that very same thing... Big investors are assuring the Brown Government that there is no "U.K. Madoff," but if the government believes that load of lies... they're unworthy of governing.