Lukas goes World!: Blue sky, green sky and the (economical) apocalypse!

Howdy!! I decided to start posting in english, so non-german speaking readers can follow as well. Especially on topics as important as this one.

So, whats the whole island talking about at the moment???
Yeeees, the economic crisis!! You think thats boring? Well, than you better read this post! And, to make it even more exciting, I added some nice recent pics ;)

(like that one - green sky, cool! ;)

The Icelandic krona currently experiences a free fall: One year ago you got 85 Kronas for one Euro, when I arrived here end of August it was about 120, now its up at 156! Thats fine for me, my rent reduced from 350 to 280 Euros within 2 months ;)
But, even if it makes travelling "cheaper"-than-ever, its clearly not a sign of a healty economy - and when this currency happens to be used only on a tiny island in the middle of the northatlantic, dependent on imports of all kind to survive - well, thats when it gets prickeling!

Last week a gasolin tanker had to turn around, because the company couldnt pay in foreign currency (National TV News today).
And friday night Bónus, one of the countrys biggest supermarkets (The islandic "Hofer"...) anounced that they had no means of paying the foreign currency advances needed to import more foodstuffs...

(In the close future, as the depression continious, will ducks eventually feed us?? Yummy! *hehe*)

But you dont have to send me food-packages now (even if the bonus really was packed to day!!) - ensuring the access to basic needs like food and fuel are probably top-priorities on the governments to-do list.

(We already eat puffins, showing off is not enough to stop us from eating you in times like these!!! ;)

But how is this connected to the global crisis, you may ask? Thats what I think:
Iceland is one of the richest countries in the world. But Icelandic wealth is very much build on debts.

This is probably one of the reasons, why the Krona is going down: Because Investors know, that the economy depends on credits! But credits are hard to get in the current crisis. No bank borrows any money to any bank anymore, because they dont know, if that particular will even exist the next day. Thats why investors pull out of iceland and the Krona drops. (Thats at least what I think - but Im happy to be commented here...)

(We will get youuuu tooo!!)

But not only the government is in debts, also the people themselve.

It is/was very common, to buy big new cars, or houses completly on credit (Read this critical comment about the islandic lifestyle and the current crisis...). But 70% of these credits are in foreign currencys - someone buying a 12 000 000 ISK car on credit a year ago (140 000 EUR) suddenly ends up with 22 000 000 ISK debts.

(No, dont jump! Its just an economic depression!! ;)

Although, one could possibly argue that it is really stupid to buy a fucking expensive car 100% on debts in the first place - but hey, we live in a capitalistic world!! We need to consume!! Satisfy our needs now! There is no time to wait for actually earning the money - thats oldfashioned! You just gotta spend it, thats good for the economy, isnt it?!! (Well, I dont wanna get in detail here ;)

(ypp, thats what I call a real basic need!!)

(... and that one!! Thats probably also a reason for fuel reserves to last only up to 40 days...)

But let me add another facett to the problem: Icelandic banks have only been privatized 10 years ago - and seen exponencial growth since. Today the combined assets of icelands three biggest banks make out 9 times the nations GDP - and the banks are in trouble.

Last week the third largest bank, Glitnir, has been nationalized in order to save it. Some people already pointed out, that the government probably bite off more than it can chew. But what if the other banks come into serious trouble too?

We will see - I just opened a banc account at Landsbankinn - but probably Ill wait a bit with transfering money ;)