Turkish Forum

Tag: debt

  • Iceland Arrests Former CEO Of Failed Bank

    Iceland Arrests Former CEO Of Failed Bank

    bankers vs standing armies

    Adam Taylor

    Iceland’s special prosecutor has taken Larus Welding, the former head of the failed Glitnir Bank, into custody, Reuters reports.

    Glitnir Bank was the first of the top three Icelandic commercial banks to fail in 2008.

    Former director of market trade Jóhannes Baldursson and former broker Ingi Rafn Júlíusson were also taken into custody and between ten and twenty other former employees of Glitnir Bank were also investigated.

    They are expected to be held for a week, apparently to prevent tampering with evidence or witness coercion.

    The Special Prosecutor’s Office released a statement that indicates their investigation will focus on four areas (via IceNews):

    1. The purchase of Glitnir’s own trade of shares issued by the bank on the stock market. Also the bank’s purchase of and trade with shares issued by FL Group. 

    2. Loans granted to various companies because of purchase of shares issued by the bank at the end of 2007 and in 2008. The original principal of these loans is believed to amount to almost ISK 37 billion (USD 310 million, EUR 231 million) in total. 

    3. Trade with forward contracts on shares issued by the bank. 

    4. Glitnir’s underwriting of the ISK 15 million (USD 126 million, EUR 93 million) stock offering by FL Group at the end of 2007, beginning of 2008.

    iceland
    Image: AP

    The collapse of Iceland’s three biggest commercial banks left $86 billion in debt (Iceland’s 2010 GDP was only $13.3 billion).

    www.businessinsider.com, 1 December 2011

  • Louie Gohmert Invokes Holocaust While Railing Against Debt

    Louie Gohmert Invokes Holocaust While Railing Against Debt

    LOUIE GOHMERT HOLOCAUST

    Nick Wing

    Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) attempted to deliver a dire warning about debt and deficits during a House floor address Friday. While doing so, however, he managed to spin a cautionary historical tale linking the current trend of spending to the Holocaust.

    After claiming that ignoring what he depicted as the current budget crisis would cause Congress to “lose the country,” Gohmert delved into his analysis of post-World War I Germany.

    “And ultimately, as the country’s economy collapsed, they became so desperate, they were willing to elect a little guy with a mustache who began to blame those of Jewish origin, leading to the worst holocaust in the history of mankind,” Gohmert said. “What opened the door for this barbarian to take over such a proud country and lead them into this unthinkable, horrible crime against humanity?”

    The congressman continued: “Over six million Jewish people were killed, exterminated. Economic problems, spending too much, owing too much, trying to print money to make it up didn’t work, so they got desperate.”

    While certainly an extreme reach back into history, the Texas lawmaker is familiar with predicting apocalyptic circumstances for legislation he disagrees with.

    According to Gohmert, the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” was going to threaten America’s very existence, while the passage of a 2009 hate crimes bill was supposed to lead to the legalization of necrophilia, pedophilia, bestiality and perhaps even Naziism.

    www.huffingtonpost.com. 11.03.2011