Now you get to guess how much is left before it gets to what is inside the box.
Iceland won a sweeping victory in a court fight over its responsibilities to foreign depositors in the Icelandic bank Landsbanki, which failed in 2008.
The court of the European Free Trade Association on Monday said Iceland didn't breach European Economic Area directives on deposit guarantees by not compensating U.K. and Dutch depositors in Landsbanki's online savings accounts, known as Icesave accounts.
Remember this?
Iceland's banks took a lot of deposits for very high interest rates from Europeans. Then Iceland's banks blew up. The nation's deposit insurance fund didn't have anywhere near enough money to pay everyone else -- so it paid their citizens first, and left everyone else to twist in the wind. A vote on this matter was taken and the citizens decided.
The other EU nations screamed, threatened and ultimately sued.
Well, now they've lost.
Not only did they lose, they lost in a court where is no path for appeal. In other words, they really lost; it's over.
This, incidentally, is not just a matter for Iceland, you see. There are other nations where demands have been made for citizens to cover other, non-citizen losses. I can think of a few... like, for instance.... Greece.
Now it is true that the situations are not exactly analogous, and this particular precedent is only going to bind in a circumstance where an EEA nation but not an EU member has a similar situation where some sort of guarantee program (e.g. a deposit guarantee program, in this case) has insufficient funds.
What this decision does is provide a solid backstop to the opinion that such a guarantee program does not reach beyond the fund and into the general finances of the nation involved, nor can that nation be forced to do so retroactively.
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DIONYSUS: " Thou hast no knowledge of the life thou art leading; thy very existence is now a mystery to thee. " -from 'The Bacchantes' By Euripides “During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” -George Orwell
I read this when it came out but did not realize that its totally over. I figured there was yet another court case and it would drag on and on. I glanced over it then moved on figuring it was not a big deal yet. That was obviously wrong.
This could prove to be a defining turning point in the future. Once others see what Iceland citizens did they will model this action. Protect your citizens first, outsiders second.
Unfortunately, in those nations that are controlled by the bankster-political crime syndicate (and that includes the US), that translates as "Protect the bankster-political class first, everybody else can just go suck it."
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". . . the Constitution has died, the economy welters in irreversible decline, we have perpetual war, all power lies in the hands of the executive, the police are supreme, and a surveillance beyond Orwell’s imaginings falls into place." - Fred Reed
Wakeupcall
Posts: 4232
Incept: 2009-06-08
Hampton Roads, VA
Yeah, the difference is when our FDIC insurance blows up, it won't be US citizens or small account holders who are compensated first. In the USSA, it us peons that will be flapping in the wind.
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“Nothing travels faster than the speed of light, with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws.”
It's gonna be hilarious when/if Switzerland blow up...
Uh, Switzerland's public debt is barely over 50% of GDP and they're running practically no deficit at present (around 1% of GDP). For some reason, I'm not too worried about them blowing up.
-Uwe-
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“Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience.” - John Locke
We'll see. A move of this kind will only result in the detonation of the Eurozone and I doubt that any nation is willing to go that far.
The PIIGS can't even bring themselves to leave the trough. In public opinion polls, only the Italians have shown any interest in bailing out of the Eurozone.
And the Greeks? Forget it. They apparently have grown to love the manacles and the lash. Majorities in opinion polls want to remain in the Eurozone, while at the same time voting for pro-austerity technocrats masquerading as anti-austerity populists.
What is the capital of Switzerland? (difficulty scale 8/10)
I'm usually pretty good at questions like that, but I drew a blank on this one.
-Uwe-
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“Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience.” - John Locke
“Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience.” - John Locke
Drkshapiro
Posts: 630
Incept: 2012-09-12
Southern CA
Oh my Uwe I had to look that one up and you are right, Berne functions as the de facto capital-- would've failed my own quiz ;-) because I thought that was it!
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Honesty may be the best policy, but it’s important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy. --G Carlin
Asimov
Posts: 103906
Incept: 2007-08-26
East Tennessee Eastern Time
Drk: Hobart.
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It's justifiably immoral to deal morally with an immoral entity. If you trade based on what other people say, you will lose money. Especially what I say. I won't be held responsible. Festina lente.
Asimov
Posts: 103906
Incept: 2007-08-26
East Tennessee Eastern Time
Hard ones:
Capitals of: suriname, french guiana and bhutan.
[Edit: Without looking them up!]
[Edit2: Don't have to spell bhutan's correctly :P ]
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It's justifiably immoral to deal morally with an immoral entity. If you trade based on what other people say, you will lose money. Especially what I say. I won't be held responsible. Festina lente.
Asimov
Posts: 103906
Incept: 2007-08-26
East Tennessee Eastern Time
You can't use proper names in scrabble.
Oh, and I just realized this was a ticker thread, we should probably quit.
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It's justifiably immoral to deal morally with an immoral entity. If you trade based on what other people say, you will lose money. Especially what I say. I won't be held responsible. Festina lente.
Got Berne & Reykjavik, and just scored on Debut by Björk fer a buck.
Tasmania and the others - swing and a miss.
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==== If it's true that "assault weapons" are "weapons of war" and don't belong on the streets of America, why do the police need them? Who are the police at war with?
