{"id":679,"date":"2008-10-07T04:32:12","date_gmt":"2008-10-07T12:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/?p=679"},"modified":"2009-02-28T06:20:52","modified_gmt":"2009-02-28T14:20:52","slug":"iceland-crumbling-eu-its-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/prophecy\/iceland-crumbling-eu-its-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Iceland Crumbling: EU its Hope?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nNorthern Shore of Reykjav\u00edk, Iceland<\/em><\/p>\n

COGwriter<\/a><\/p>\n

Iceland seems to be in even more financial trouble than the other countries I have been reporting on.\u00a0 Notice the following news items:<\/p>\n

Iceland Risks Bankruptcy, Leader Says<\/span><\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Wall Street Journal<\/strong> – Oct 7, 2008<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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REYKJAV\u00cdK, Iceland — Saying Iceland was at risk of “national bankruptcy,” Prime Minister Geir Haarde prepared to give regulators authority to take over the nation’s ailing banks as a worsening financial crisis all but cut off the island from the global financial system.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Credit lines to Iceland’s banks closed down Monday, Mr. Haarde said in a televised address. Late Monday, Iceland’s parliament was voting on an emergency law that could put the entire banking system under government control. It was expected to pass.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“There is a very real danger, fellow citizens, that the Icelandic economy, in the worst case, could be sucked with the banks into the whirlpool and the result could be national bankruptcy,” Mr. Haarde said. After the speech, Standard & Poors cut Iceland’s foreign-currency sovereign-debt rating for a second time in a week.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“The banking system is not functioning,” said Paul Biszko, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto. “Everybody’s cutting them off.”…<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If banks dump their foreign assets, that should also boost the wilting Icelandic krona. The currency is off more than 40% against the euro this year, an example of how badly the banking crisis is bleeding into the broader economy…<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Meantime, the International Monetary Fund sent a fact-finding team to Iceland, an IMF spokesman said Monday.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 source: <\/span>http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/article\/SB122331879240408481.html?mod=googlenews_wsj<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Financial crisis: Iceland’s dreams go up in smoke<\/strong><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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What a difference a year makes. Only last November, Iceland’s status as one of the most successful economies in the West was underlined when it was judged the best place to live in the world. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
Telegraph<\/strong> – Oct 6, 2008…<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Iceland had also presided over the fastest expansion of a banking system anywhere in the world. Little did anyone know that the expansion once so admired would go on to saddle the country with liabilities in excess of $100 billion \u2013 liabilities that now dwarf its gross domestic product of $14 billion. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Iceland overreached itself in spectacular fashion, and the party is coming to a messy end. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday, trading in the shares of six major financial institutions was suspended as the government sought to avert meltdown. <\/span><\/span>http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/finance\/financetopics\/financialcrisis\/3147866\/Financial-crisis-Icelands-dreams-go-up-in-smoke.html<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Iceland’s Financial Woes Could Push It Closer to EU<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

Iceland is in trouble. With credit markets frozen, the country is looking for a way to prop up its debt-laden banking system. The currency is already tanking as are stocks in some of its leading banks. Could EU membership be on the horizon?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n