Icesave vote a threat to global finance?
The people of Iceland face the prospect of a referendum on the deal their government cut with the UK and the Netherlands in the wake of the Icesave collapse. Many commentators think it could constitute a threat to the entire global financial system if people are allowed to vote their way out of massive debt.
A notice hangs on the wall in a sports centre near Reykjavik. The centre will be closed on Satur-day 6 March if a referendum is held on that day. With only days left until the scheduled vote on the fate of the Icesave proposal, no one knows if it will actually go ahead.
Few things shed as much light on the situation in Iceland as this notice. There might be a vote, but nobody has a clue what will happen if there is not. Will a new deal with the British and the Dutch see the vote called off? Will it be postponed to allow time to cut a deal? Will a better out-come be feasible once the votes have been counted, especially now that the polls suggest the proposal will be rejected?
Is it true, as is rumoured, that the British would prefer it if the people of Iceland didn’t vote on Icesave, since a popular mandate would strengthen Iceland’s hand at the negotiating table? If that is the case, then at least Britain and Iceland agree on something – even if it is only that both con-sider the referendum a very bad idea indeed.
Read the full article at analysnorden.org
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Michael Funch
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