Just a few questions:

• Who are the rating agencies?
• To whom are they accountable?
• Does anyone with a brain believe what they say anymore?
• Why do we still listen to them?
• Why aren’t their bosses in jail?

Geir Haarde: blamed ratings agencies for Iceland's meltdown

A couple of weeks back, I watched a BBC ‘HardTalk’ interview with Gerr Haarde, the former Prime Minister of Iceland. When asked how he got things so spectacularly wrong – allowing obligations accrued by Icelandic banks to jeopardize the solvency of the entire nation – he had a convincing answer. The ratings agencies said it was OK.

Last week, I watched some of Britain’s leading bankers hauled over the coals before the House of Common Treasury Select Committee. How did they screw up so badly? They sighed deeply. The ratings agencies, they said, with glum looks. The ratings agencies said it was all just fine.

I suspect these answers are broadly truthful. I doubt the bankers lied on oath, not when they had a way out. The ratings agencies, assuredly, got things spectacularly wrong. They told their clients that toxic slime was wholesome organic fertilizer. Perhaps they were genuinely misled. But the natural inference, in such a situation, is that these folk are shocking liars. At the very least, they should be required to prove that’s not the case.

If they don’t do that, what’s the point of taking anything they say seriously any more?

Iceland is warming up, on a timescale that cannot be explained by global warming alone. Icelanders have been getting very hot under the collar.

Iceland, a model for 'People Power'?

‘People Power’ really does mean something in Iceland. It’s a concept Icelandic politicians and media must factor in. They don’t have any choice.

I’ve never visited that chilly land, but I’m impressed by what I see of the country and its people. My dog, who has a shaggy coat, would enjoy the weather.

I get the impression Icelanders are like a huge, unruly, extended family. In a family like that, when enough relatives get fed up, the going gets tough – even for the family patriarch and his inner circle.

That’s happening now in Iceland and I admire their feisty spirit. Icelanders, having come to the understanding that their country has been bankrupted by incompetents, swindlers and liars, don’t just drown their sorrows in front of the TV. They don’t put up with channel switching. They go out on the streets and abuse the local TV station personally, in significant numbers, spoiling the fun for smooth talking heads, the very people they blame for ruining the country’s economy.

If it happens to be New Years Eve, so much the better. Icelanders take their party to the TV studios. Associated Press reports:

A nationally televised meeting between Iceland’s prime minister and other political leaders was forced off the air Wednesday night when angry protesters disrupted the broadcast.

The most memorable one-liner of the week surely goes to Runar Birgisson, an Icelandic Marketing manager. Runar feels disillusioned with politicians he helped elect.

Many around the world share similar sentiments, but Icelanders currently believe they have more reason than most.

Following the widely-reported financial meltdown in Iceland, a winter chill has set in. Moods are turning ugly. The hunt is on for perpetrators. Where did all the money go? Some blame politicians. Politicians blame bankers. Artists have begun invoking ancient Norse techniques for cursing enemies.

The whiff of revolution is in the air. Perhaps Marx and Mao were both wrong. Maybe the real revolution will start in Reykavik?

According to an Associated Press report by Jill Lawless and Valur Gunnarsson (emphases added):

Thousands of Icelanders marked the 90th anniversary of their nation’s sovereignty with angry protest Monday, and several hundred stormed the central bank to demand the ouster of bankers they blame for the country’s spectacular economic meltdown.