If you want to understand the economic success that is Iceland – watch the video above.  After being put in a horrible situation by large banks that ran the economy into the ground … there was a tremendous exertion of pressure on the Icelandic people to submit and pay off the debts of those Iceland banks.  The people of Iceland decided to jail the bankers and those in government responsible for the negligence, tell international bankers to go fuck themselves by declaring bankruptcy and they created a new Constitution using social media to integrate ideas from “the people”.  (source)

After the immediate collapse of their economy directly after the bankruptcy – Iceland has grown significantly faster than the rest of the EU and has proven to be a tremendous success.  A full 20% of Icelanders were forgiven in some debt for underwater mortgages as government issued a “cramdown” on the principal making normal people not responsible for debt exceeding 10% more than the value of their homes (being underwater by 10%).  The new economic growth has come directly from their ability to control their own currency thus devaluing it and allowing their people to export more items thus creating economic activity.  That in addition to the removal of debts has been the difference.

Despite that successful formula there is still a tremendous amount of pressure being placed on Iceland to join the Borg excuse me … the European Union.  Even though more than 2/3 of Icelanders are against joining the United States of Europe … elites in government and members of the EU continue to push for this result.  If Iceland were part of the EU at the time of their economic collapse … they NEVER would have been able to get out of this slump because member states do not control monetary policy if they join the currency union.  And yet – they keep pushing.

From the Wall Street Journal HERE:

Iceland’s European Union membership negotiations are well underway, but will soon enter “challenging territory,” EU Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fuele said Friday.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Danish Minister for European Affairs Nicolai Wammen and Ossur Skarphethinsson, Iceland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Fuele said Iceland “is on the right track when it comes to EU accession,” but warned that “more challenging chapters are coming to the table.”

Even if the fishing issue is resolved, joining the EU is by no means guaranteed. The largest roadblock may be the Icelandic people, who would have to approve accession in a referendum. Their support for the EU has eroded significantly since the start of the euro-zone debt crisis, even though Iceland’s own currency simultaneously experienced an even more severe collapse, losing about half its value against the Euro since 2007.

A February poll by Capacent Gallup found that more than two-thirds of Icelanders would vote against joining if the referendum were immediately held.

Still, Mr. Skarphethinsson said he was confident that Iceland would resolve its differences with the EU in the ongoing negotiations.

One of the Iceland legislators speaks about how much better a position Iceland is in compared to countries in the Eurozone:

And even though this is from a year ago – this shows how many in the EU and various “elites” are pushing for Iceland to make the move into the European Union against all common sense.

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