It seems that the European Union has declined to guarantee accounts in Iceland's ailing banks. While Iceland is not a member of the European Union, it does belong to the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA), which provides for a private guarantee fund in each member state assuring a minimum compensation of €20.000 (approximately $29,000) for each depositor account.
Since Europe has experienced a credit crisis similar to our own, the member states, in particular Britain and The Netherlands, have problems of their own and have left Iceland out in the cold, so to speak. The full story is reported in this article:
Iceland Is Sacrificed to Save EU: Shame on Britain and Holland
As our government contemplates raising the debt ceiling to One Gajillion Dollars, I would like to put forward a stimulating proposal: that the US simply buy Iceland. With such a credit limit on the national credit card, we could, in addition to buying up controlling shares in several auto manufacturers, mortgage banks, and insurance companies, certainly afford a small republic here and there. We could offer something like $160 billion (10 times Iceland's GDP). Or more. After all, the more we spend, the more stimulating the effect. Much like a strip club, but let us not vulgarly digress.
Iceland could opt to become an autonomous unincorporated territory like Puerto Rico, or vote for statehood. As a Scandinavian socialist state, it would be slightly more conservative than Massachusetts. Its citizens could enjoy a favorable immigration policy, such as the "wet-foot/dry-foot" rule we apply to Cubans--though in this case we might simply call it the "hypothermia rule."
The tourism trade on both sides would thrive. Perhaps we could finish that bridge to nowhere and make it go to Rejkjavik. Both are somewhere up north, we are told. For our part, Americans will get Volcano and Ale tours. The Icelanders would have an opportunity to experience sunlight and intimate congress with people with whom they are not distantly related. Best of all, they could thumb their noses at the British, Dutch, and French. True, the French did not deny the Icelandic banks support, but they could thumb their noses at them nonetheless.
It's really hard to see a downside.
Since Europe has experienced a credit crisis similar to our own, the member states, in particular Britain and The Netherlands, have problems of their own and have left Iceland out in the cold, so to speak. The full story is reported in this article:
Iceland Is Sacrificed to Save EU: Shame on Britain and Holland
As our government contemplates raising the debt ceiling to One Gajillion Dollars, I would like to put forward a stimulating proposal: that the US simply buy Iceland. With such a credit limit on the national credit card, we could, in addition to buying up controlling shares in several auto manufacturers, mortgage banks, and insurance companies, certainly afford a small republic here and there. We could offer something like $160 billion (10 times Iceland's GDP). Or more. After all, the more we spend, the more stimulating the effect. Much like a strip club, but let us not vulgarly digress.
Iceland could opt to become an autonomous unincorporated territory like Puerto Rico, or vote for statehood. As a Scandinavian socialist state, it would be slightly more conservative than Massachusetts. Its citizens could enjoy a favorable immigration policy, such as the "wet-foot/dry-foot" rule we apply to Cubans--though in this case we might simply call it the "hypothermia rule."
The tourism trade on both sides would thrive. Perhaps we could finish that bridge to nowhere and make it go to Rejkjavik. Both are somewhere up north, we are told. For our part, Americans will get Volcano and Ale tours. The Icelanders would have an opportunity to experience sunlight and intimate congress with people with whom they are not distantly related. Best of all, they could thumb their noses at the British, Dutch, and French. True, the French did not deny the Icelandic banks support, but they could thumb their noses at them nonetheless.
It's really hard to see a downside.
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