Iceland: a pattern of rollback from the “delta” to the “gamma”
Consider the example of Iceland, how prosperous countries slide from the peripheral “delta” into debt bondage “gamma”. The Icelandic events, as in a mirror, reflected the whole essence of the late “gamma”, its third stage - making a profit by pumping demand with credit.
Iceland is a small peripheral island nation that, until recently, lived very comfortably and calmly. The main resource of Iceland is fishing, thanks to which 320 thousand citizens have existed comfortably. Environmentally friendly sources of energy were actively mastered. Unemployment fell to the mark of statistical error. Affordable and quality health care and education. Fresh air and pastoral landscape. In short, complete delta socialism. Icelanders even said that they had reached the end of development. And, indeed, the delta is the end of the socion.
But here in Iceland put an eye to the multinational companies engaged in the production of aluminum. They were attracted by the cheapness of renewable energy sources, which are abundantly available on the island, hydro and geothermal. They have made offers that are hard to refuse. And the government of Iceland agreed. In 2000, it announced a large-scale program for the construction of aluminum plants. In the guise of aluminum TNCs in the country invaded the gamma - international banking capital.
The government announced a policy of deregulation - gave the economy at the mercy of the magic hand of the market. Banks began to pump money from abroad for lending. During the first five years, the country's foreign loans reached $ 120 billion, equal to ten Icelandic GDP. People, driven by advertising, rushed to recruit consumer loans. Housing prices, as a result, rushed up. And banks provided trade with all new loans. Newly minted businessmen rushed to open shopping centers across the country.
And the people decided that there is no need to work on fishing seiners, because it is much more profitable to sit in dust-free offices at the computer. A productive economy has become a service economy. In agriculture and industry, only a third of the able-bodied population remained to work. In 2007, on the crest of consumer hype, the UN recognized Iceland as the best country to live in the world.
In short, the classic financial bubble has inflated in Iceland. But in 2008, this bubble burst, and the country's three largest banks went bankrupt. Immediately collapsed and the stock market, as well as the national currency. Unemployment soared to African countries. Iceland became bankrupt. This event is now considered the largest economic catastrophe in the history of a single state.
Iceland was simply abandoned to the mercy of fate. EU countries ignored her requests for financial assistance. Moreover, Icelandic assets were frozen by the UK government, with reference to anti-terrorism legislation.
Calm northern people took to the streets. The protest demonstrations began. Under pressure from citizens, the Icelandic authorities held a referendum on the payment of compensation to foreign investors on March 6, 2010 ($ 3.4 billion, which is very much for such a country). Ninety percent of the population voted against. Financial bondage was avoided.
Here is a story. Yes, it is not difficult to seduce a person who has a gamma-nature with promises of an easy life in the consumer's paradise. This psychological trait - the desire for possession - formed the basis of the neo-liberal economy launched in the United States in the early 1980s. And now on the financial needle sits most of the world, including Ukraine. February 22nd The agency "Bloomberg" reported that in terms of the risk of sovereign default among European countries, Ukraine is next to Greece. Do people have the wisdom to follow the example of Iceland?
Quadras, as we see, do not change only forward. From the gamut it is easy to roll back into the beta (freedom turned more than once into a new dictatorship), and from the delta to the gamut. Such is the dialectical nature of socion.
Iceland is a small peripheral island nation that, until recently, lived very comfortably and calmly. The main resource of Iceland is fishing, thanks to which 320 thousand citizens have existed comfortably. Environmentally friendly sources of energy were actively mastered. Unemployment fell to the mark of statistical error. Affordable and quality health care and education. Fresh air and pastoral landscape. In short, complete delta socialism. Icelanders even said that they had reached the end of development. And, indeed, the delta is the end of the socion.
But here in Iceland put an eye to the multinational companies engaged in the production of aluminum. They were attracted by the cheapness of renewable energy sources, which are abundantly available on the island, hydro and geothermal. They have made offers that are hard to refuse. And the government of Iceland agreed. In 2000, it announced a large-scale program for the construction of aluminum plants. In the guise of aluminum TNCs in the country invaded the gamma - international banking capital.
The government announced a policy of deregulation - gave the economy at the mercy of the magic hand of the market. Banks began to pump money from abroad for lending. During the first five years, the country's foreign loans reached $ 120 billion, equal to ten Icelandic GDP. People, driven by advertising, rushed to recruit consumer loans. Housing prices, as a result, rushed up. And banks provided trade with all new loans. Newly minted businessmen rushed to open shopping centers across the country.
And the people decided that there is no need to work on fishing seiners, because it is much more profitable to sit in dust-free offices at the computer. A productive economy has become a service economy. In agriculture and industry, only a third of the able-bodied population remained to work. In 2007, on the crest of consumer hype, the UN recognized Iceland as the best country to live in the world.
In short, the classic financial bubble has inflated in Iceland. But in 2008, this bubble burst, and the country's three largest banks went bankrupt. Immediately collapsed and the stock market, as well as the national currency. Unemployment soared to African countries. Iceland became bankrupt. This event is now considered the largest economic catastrophe in the history of a single state.
Iceland was simply abandoned to the mercy of fate. EU countries ignored her requests for financial assistance. Moreover, Icelandic assets were frozen by the UK government, with reference to anti-terrorism legislation.
Calm northern people took to the streets. The protest demonstrations began. Under pressure from citizens, the Icelandic authorities held a referendum on the payment of compensation to foreign investors on March 6, 2010 ($ 3.4 billion, which is very much for such a country). Ninety percent of the population voted against. Financial bondage was avoided.
Here is a story. Yes, it is not difficult to seduce a person who has a gamma-nature with promises of an easy life in the consumer's paradise. This psychological trait - the desire for possession - formed the basis of the neo-liberal economy launched in the United States in the early 1980s. And now on the financial needle sits most of the world, including Ukraine. February 22nd The agency "Bloomberg" reported that in terms of the risk of sovereign default among European countries, Ukraine is next to Greece. Do people have the wisdom to follow the example of Iceland?
Quadras, as we see, do not change only forward. From the gamut it is easy to roll back into the beta (freedom turned more than once into a new dictatorship), and from the delta to the gamut. Such is the dialectical nature of socion.
Comments
Post a Comment