For centuries, Iceland was a simple fishing society, largely shut off from mainland Europe. The people survived off the sheep in the meadows and the fish in the sea. For cultural sustenance they had elaborate sagas -- intricate tales of fairies and goblins, heroes and ghosts -- that would inspire J.R.R. Tolkien and other fantasy writers.
At the peak of Iceland's boom, Stefan Alfsson left his fishing boat and started trading commodities for an investment bank. "We could do more," he said. "I got a bigger house, bigger and more cars, better snowmobiles."
Then a modern saga began to unfold -- that of a nation of fishermen who became millionaires, only to lose it all and return to the seas.
This is, I hope, the final segment in the ongoing Icelandic financial crisis saga.
3 comments:
The term "testosterone driven" is the easy way to describe the boom. It's more about greed. But Esquire Magazine pointed out something called "recency bias." It was simply a lack of regard for any information older than three or four years. Investors cared little about the market's history ten years back. They looked only a the recent performance and assumed that it would continue. I mean, face it. A fisherman and a folksinger have no business with millions of dollars. They didn't know what they were doing. And now the party's over. Thanks a lot, guys. Now go catch some fish.
yeah greed backfires
Since the crisis, Iceland is back to the basics, which means fish, fish and more fish.
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