Posted on 10/09/2008 11:03:37 PM PDT by Chet 99
THINGEYRI, Iceland -- Kristjan Davidsson went to sea as a deckhand at 16. At fisheries college he aspired to be a boat captain. For two decades, he sold fish and fish-processing equipment. Like his father, and practically everyone in this remote village, he owed his living to the fish his country pulled from the ocean.
But in 2001 Mr. Davidsson got bored. He joined one of Iceland's newly privatized banks. He got rich. Now, he says, it looks like it's back to fish. That may be true for this nation's fortunes as a whole.
On Tuesday, Iceland's government seized Glitnir Bank hf, Mr. Davidsson's employer, caught up in the unfolding global financial crisis. On Wednesday, he came to the office for an emergency staff meeting. Glitnir's government-appointed receiver addressed the troops. "The basic message I heard was, 'Go find another job,'" says Mr. Davidsson.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Mr. Leifson mulled a job as a consultant to banks, but in the end he got cold feet about leaving an industry that had long been his family’s livelihood. “Thanks to God,” he says. Behind him rise rectangular tubs stacked 10 high. Fish spend three weeks inside, curing in pebbly salt. A real economy needs products to sell, Mr. Leifson says. Banking is “paper money. You can’t do anything with paper money.”
Mr. Leifson appears smarter than about 2/3rds of the people living in any big city.
a simple fisherman. he is probably not some hot shot finance whiz who dreams about derivatives and other exotic ideas. But he is a lot wiser.
Yes, sir.
I might have to prove whether or not I can do what my grandfather did, survive without some gov't structure.
Show contempt for them by surviving without them.
The new dawn.
And they deserve all the contempt they receive.
ping. This is a good article in the sense that it highlights the role of self reliance and the ability of the Icelandic people to adapt to adversity and go back to the sea to sustain themselves and their economy. How bad is it with the krona? Can the currency still be used for commerce, at least domestically?
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