Iceland - Why The Vikings May Be Gentled

Útrásar Víkingar - that is what we called them, the new Masters of the Universe who set forth from Iceland in the last decade to conquer the new world of finance.

As with their predecessors, once off-shore, their enrichment schemes ended up involving more looting and raping than maybe was really essential, and as with their predecessors, they brought the aggro back home with them.

It is a hard concept to translate, best I could come up with was "Sally Vikings" - in the sense of how a besieged fortress might send out a raiding party, no intent to conquer permanently, and not really to break out either, rather to hold the fort and raid the neighbours - grab the loot and do some damage.

Anyway, it now looks like the anarchy may be reined in, as it was one thousand and eighty years ago, when Iceland became a Land of Law.
Unfortunately, as then, a weak executive may fall back on exile and fines as the primary source of justice.

Iceland, in 2007, negotiated extradition treaties. The UK, being outside of Schengen, needed a separate treaty, and one was duly negotiated, pretty standard.
Alþingi resolved on 16th March 2007 to approve the treaty.

So... this week, Iceland requested the extradition of Siggi E. - one of the premier Sally Vikings, one of the CEOs of Kaupþing - who was hanging out in London.
No! Said the UK courts.
Huh?

Wellllll, apparently, the Icelandic government "forgot" to actually sign the treaty!
So there is no extradition treaty between Iceland and the UK!

How convenient!

This is the same government that oversaw the deregulation and expansion of the banks, and was starting to get a pretty good idea of how deep a hole they were in back then.
Not that I think that is the reason, I think they were just incompetent and not paying attention.

At least now we know why all our Sally Vikings were so keen to get a nice pile in Surrey or a little townhouse in Chelsea...

But, why and how did Iceland suddenly act after months of apparent indecision and paralysis?

Well, I have a theory...

It is not, per se, that things had just gone too far and something cracked.
Things have gone far: there is massive unemployment, by Icelandic standards; sharp cuts in social services, by Icelandic standards; general degradation of living standards, drifting back to the '70s in some ways.

What has happened, I think, is that the Middle Class, especially the professional sector - the lawyers and doctors and engineers and scientists - have had enough and they are taking society back.
If they can.
The whole Viking thing was good fun, at the time, they thought - people made money, some dribbled down to shareholders and retail investors, the Vikings brought back loot - a whole Debenhams even!

But then they fucked up, and it messed up a carefully built up society that had taken decades to piece together. Iceland was nice! Very Middle Class.
And it wasn't really the banksters and corporate raiders who put it together, that was froth.
The economy and the social system and the amenities, as always, came from the collective contribution of a sizeable educated middle class and a very hard working skilled and semi-skilled working class.
The Middle Class is looking at all their gains for their whole working life being taken to pay for the criminal incompetence of a few dozen sociopaths - the same government that released the Sally Vikings summarily assumed collective responsibility for the failings of the Sally Vikings, on behalf of a rather pissed off nation.

Ok. The Middle Class pays its debts.
But.
The Viking Fuckers Are Not Keeping The Loot.
Not. Going. To. Happen.

Or, to look at it another way, the losses are being taken by the judges' pension funds and the overtime funding for police officers.

So, hence the arrests, the warrants for asset seizure, the exiles
.
Some of the Sally Vikings may get away with some of the loot, and their spoilt drunk descendants will no doubt seamlessly merge into the minor aristocracy of the English home counties, as they did a thousand years ago.
But they will always be pining for the fjords.

Or, I'm completely wrong and this is all Kabuki, and the new aristocracy of Iceland will cruise in their yachts and jets for a couple of centuries, until it all falls to pieces and Norway reclaims the island and the survivors.

Now, what will the US and EU do?

More like this

So... this week, Iceland requested the extradition of Siggi E. - one of the premier Sally Vikings, one of the CEOs of Kaupþing - who was hanging out in London.
No! Said the UK courts.

F'ing brilliant - we'll extradite any random schlub to the US on the flimsiest of pretexts to face absurd charges, and we'll even ship our own citizens off to third-world despots for a spot of torture provided they're brown, but extradite some filthy rich tosspot looter to a civilised country? No way!

I bet the fucker contributed to the Tories too...

It's good to be king...er, viking.