Could Iceland's economic miracle be a social model for Europe?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ส.ค. 2018
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Our reporters returned to Iceland, some 10 years after the tiny island nation plunged into a deep crisis after the country’s banking system collapsed like a house of cards. Icelanders have since called virtually everything they know into question: their financial structures, politics and even the way their society works in general. This has resulted in a near miraculous economic rebound and social reform for the country, where women now play a key role.
With an unemployment rate of just 1 percent, a GDP growth of near 5 percent and investments soaring to 8.8 percent, Icelandic wages are now back at their pre-crisis levels. For the financial year of 2017, Iceland’s national balance sheet saw those of other European countries pale in comparison.
Reykjavik, the island nation’s capital, perfectly encapsulates the exceptional dynamic the country is now experiencing. Along the waterfront, cranes work around the clock as giant architectural projects constantly pop out of the ground: concert halls, convention centres, housing complexes, business establishments and luxury hotels.
Iceland’s impressive economic recovery has a great deal to do with its recent boom in tourism, which has allowed for several hundreds of millions of euros to be invested in the Icelandic capital. But it’s by far the only reason.
In the few short years since Iceland sank into one of the deepest financial crises any European country has seen in modern time, it has already managed to climb out of its mountains of losses and swing into actual profit. Although the 330,000 strong population has had to live through crippling austerity, most of the measures imposed stand in stark contrast to those adopted by other crisis-hit countries.
Exchange and capital controls have been in place for almost 10 years now. And the Nordic island never offered to bail out its failing banks, instead it put the country’s corrupt bankers in prison.
The Icelandic society of today can best be described as hyperactive, constantly introducing new inventive forms of ensuring its people's involvement. Women, in particular, have been spearheading the country’s societal movements, and are now at the forefront of Iceland’s change.
►► Pirates reap gains in Iceland but fall short of majority vote
Even though some inequalities still exist in Iceland, the nation has topped the World Economic Forum’s gender equality rankings for several years now. The country may very well be on its way to becoming a societal role model for other European nations.
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apparently.. arrest all the banksters, economy problems solved
Free money from Norway = economic miracle.
I wonder how this country doing under the pandemic ?
small island? Well 100 thousand square kilometres is not that small for a island.
Bigger than Ireland, bigger than Holland, bigger than Belgium, bigger than Austria, bigger than Denmark... so landmass isn't so small compared to other countries in Europe.
Greetings from Iceland, and thanks for your input. As a matter of fact Iceland is the second largest island in europe, so yes its far from being small. But ofcourse its mostly barren rock and highlands and only a relatively small part of it is habitable, hence its low population :)
Nice
The euro is over valued and hurting all the member states. The EU can hold fast and watch as member states drop out of the eurozone.
A country of 350,000 isn't even a model for a city.
Who needs a city when everyone is happy
Maybe you should stop belitteling the "small guy" and look at what Icelanders have accomplished throughout history....
Island is always closed-door-society for other people. It's ablolutely not a model for a Europe or any othet mainland nation
Is the password to that door supposed to be public?
I know nothing about business, economics and finance, but is it correct that the first thing that the Icelanders did was devalue the krona to entice tourists?
I’m impress that with the 40% of female workers impost by the government this system has succeeded so well cause in point of view the equality does not mean to impost people but assure that qualify person will have the position right to perform. Maybe my mentality it’s ambiguous but after men has create all the infrastructure of most of the cities around the world or probably all them for females to take over can became pretty risky. Impress how everything has been manage, I will like to learn more about this Icelandic economy system.
GET IT MAN!
We need to jail our criminal banksters here in America
I am all for involvement in government by the citizens