Author: Magnús Sveinn Helgason
The Politisation Of Achievement
Icelanders like nothing better than confirmations of their belief that they are somehow the greatest, the strongest, the most beautiful…
A Lesson In Radicalism
The Radical Summer University, organised by a group of leftists from academia and activist groups, will take place in August…
Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Black Swan?
Following the financial crash of 2008 one of the most common comments made was that “nobody saw it coming,” and…
Playing The Game Of ‘This Time It’s Different’
It is curious, when one considers how obvious it now seems that the Icelandic financial miracle was a giant bubble,…
Should Icelanders Be Ashamed Of Themselves?
After the publication of the SIC report, there was a near unanimous agreement in Icelandic society that it was not…
Whose Fault Was The Giant Icelandic Consumption Boom?
Considering the vast size of the recent Icelandic consumption boom that peaked in 2007, it is remarkable how little attention…
Building Giant ATMs
Real estate prices, which had remained stagnant in real terms between 1988 and 2003—that is, they simply followed inflation—took off….
RVK9: WHAT DID WE LEARN?
By mid March, the case against the Reykjavík Nine (who had been accused of conspiracy to attack Alþingi with the…
A FAILED ATTEMPT TO DISPIRIT ACTIVISTS
While a verdict is still pending in the trial of The Reykjavik Nine, it’s safe to say that the prosecution…
The Decade of Failure
While history—meaning: ‘the past’—does not change, history—meaning: ‘the narration of past events’—does in fact change. This is because we view…
The mysterious case of the disappearing neoliberal
In the fall of 2008 there was no shortage of proclamations that the implosion of the global financial system meant…
Witnessing a show trial or seeing justice being done?
At a hearing in the case of the state against the “Reykjavík nine” on August 17th, Ragnar Aðalsteinsson, counsel to…
Bubblicious!
The collapse of the Icelandic financial system in October of 2008 did not only squash any dreams Icelanders had of…
The ‘Corporate Vikings’
The most iconic image of the Icelandic financial bubble was that of the ‘Corporate Viking’—the financier who engineered one daring…
Attacks On Alþingi Are Of No Concern To Alþingi
Last week the Speaker of Alþingi, Social Democrat Ásta Ragnheiður Jóhannesdóttir, was presented with the signatures of 705 people who…
The Poop Throwing Left Wing Conspiracy
One of the oldest blogs in Iceland is VefÞjóðviljinn (“The People’s Will, on the Web”—The WebWill for short). The blog,…
Delusions Of Financial Grandeur
As the Icelandic financial system came crashing down in the fall of 2008, Icelanders woke up to realize that the…
The Imaginary Anarchist Threat
During its noon news broadcast on Friday, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service announced that police had been summoned to the…