Golden age in Covid times Jordi Pujolá skrifar 22. mars 2021 12:02 Crisis everywhere but in Iceland? I´m a writer from Spain. Many things shocked me when I moved to Iceland. But now after almost 8 years there is something that shocks me more than when I saw for the first time the plumber taking off his shoes before coming in my house. I am very surprised because there seems to be a crisis everywhere except in Iceland. While all the attention on the news go to the volcano and Covid, the prices in Iceland keep on rising. The Real Estate situation The thing is I wanted to buy a bigger apartment. I saw a nice one and I bid for that without asking for discount (I didn´t dare). Then some hours later the real estate agent told me I had to pay for some extra repairs on the house (worth ISK 2 M) and I accepted. And the next day he told me I had to raise my offer up because some other customers did it, otherwise I was out of the auction. Wow, I just needed to invite the owner to Hotel Rangá with a prepaid dinner. Of course, I said yes and of course someone else offer more than me and I lost the apartment. And not only the real estate prices, also the cars, the services, the food ... Reykjavik or Montecarlo? By the way, I have never seen so many luxury cars as nowadays. The rúntur in Laugavegur is not the same anymore. No sign of the old Toyota, Nissan or Subaru (I miss them). All the cars are Porsche, Land Rover, Audi, BMW, Mercedes ... And Tesla was the car best seller in 2020. This city looks like Montecarlo! The ferming About clothes. I went to Kringlan in February to buy some clothes for my kids. The shop assistant told me there were not sales because it was ferming season. And the same extends to computers, phones, motor bikes, etc. Wow, it looks parents spare no expense when it came to confirmation celebrations in Iceland. I´m shaking, my oldest son is 13. I don´t know what he is going to ask me for. I need hardly to write a bestseller. Luckily, he doesn´t have driving license yet. As a result of this compulsive consumerism, the inflation rate in Iceland is almost 3%. Expensive even for Icelanders When tourists come again, they will be way safe from Covid, but when they see the prices they will faint and fall backwards. Iceland is expensive even for Icelanders. I guess that is why moonlighting is so necessary and asking for loans a habit. However, Iceland is facing the highest unemployment rates (7%) in recent years and the low interest won´t last forever. On the other hand, it´s a fact the tourism, the main source of the Icelandic economy in recent yearshas been reduced to ashes. Perhaps the only positive thing is that it gives us the possibility to start from scratch. For example, do we want fewer tourists but with greater purchasing power? Then we should improve some facilities. In crises like that there are always new opportunities. The Government is doing well Unlike in other countries, the Icelandic Government has managed to keep the economy alive by subsidizing companies and unemployed workers until the tourists come back. At the same time, the Covid looks to be under control, which currently can be considered another economic rate. Therefore, if nothing unexpected happens, Iceland will be the favorite touristic destination in Europe, and we will be safe again. The hungover The fact the government is paying the bill for everything is fine and to spend the money of the holidays we didn´t go as well. However, it can produce a fictitious economic peak situation and, consequently, an exaggerated consumerism and indebtedness of the population. Especially in Iceland because the loans are indexed to inflation and the krona is more volatile and vulnerable than other currencies. Film director Borkur Gunnarsson once told me that Icelanders are not afraid of going bankruptcy because they know that one way or another the State will protect them and no one in Iceland starves or sleeps on the street. I hope so. Jordi Pujolá is a fiction novel author and economist living in Reykjavik. Viltu birta grein á Vísi? Sendu okkur póst. Senda grein Athugið. Vísir hvetur lesendur til að skiptast á skoðunum. Allar athugasemdir eru á ábyrgð þeirra er þær rita. Lesendur skulu halda sig við málefnalega og hófstillta umræðu og áskilur Vísir sér rétt til að fjarlægja ummæli og/eða umræðu sem fer út fyrir þau mörk. Vísir mun loka á aðgang þeirra sem tjá sig ekki undir eigin nafni eða gerast ítrekað brotlegir við ofangreindar umgengnisreglur. Mest lesið Burt með pólitík á Bessastöðum Kristmundur Carter Skoðun „Almennings“ samgöngur? Bragi Gunnlaugsson Skoðun Nýr „loftslagsvænn“ iðnaður - neikvæð áhrif á lífríki og fiskveiðar Sæunn Júlía Sigurjónsdóttir Skoðun Örlætisgerningur Vilhjálmur H. Vilhjálmsson Skoðun Náttúran njóti vafans, ótímabundið Bjarkey Olsen Gunnarsdóttir Skoðun Íþróttir fyrir öll, jöfnum og bætum leikinn Hólmfríður Sigþórsdóttir,Anna Þorsteinsdóttir Skoðun Sjálfbær framtíð Vestfjarða Sigríður Ólöf Kristjánsdóttir,Aðalsteinn Óskarsson Skoðun Öll með? – 4.020 kr. hækkun fyrir skatt eftir 16 mánuði! Unnur Helga Óttarsdóttir Skoðun Fjármunum veitt þangað sem neyðin er mest Diljá Mist Einarsdóttir Skoðun Góður forseti G. Pétur Matthíasson Skoðun Skoðun Skoðun Formleg uppgjöf Hjörtur J. Guðmundsson skrifar Skoðun Örlætisgerningur Vilhjálmur H. Vilhjálmsson skrifar Skoðun Fjármunum veitt þangað sem neyðin er mest Diljá Mist Einarsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Sjálfbær framtíð Vestfjarða Sigríður Ólöf Kristjánsdóttir,Aðalsteinn Óskarsson skrifar Skoðun Burt með pólitík á Bessastöðum Kristmundur Carter skrifar Skoðun Náttúran njóti vafans, ótímabundið Bjarkey Olsen Gunnarsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Íþróttir fyrir öll, jöfnum og bætum leikinn Hólmfríður Sigþórsdóttir,Anna Þorsteinsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Nýr „loftslagsvænn“ iðnaður - neikvæð áhrif á lífríki og fiskveiðar Sæunn Júlía Sigurjónsdóttir skrifar Skoðun „Almennings“ samgöngur? Bragi Gunnlaugsson skrifar Skoðun Góður forseti G. Pétur Matthíasson skrifar Skoðun Hvers vegna Halla Tómasdóttir? Guðjón Sigurðsson skrifar Skoðun Heimildin sem hvarf úr frumvarpi matvælaráðherra Vala Árnadóttir skrifar Skoðun Sníða sér stakk eftir vexti Guðni Magnús Ingvason skrifar Skoðun Norskir herrar eða íslenskir? Þóra Bergný Guðmundsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Af hverju ertu að bjóða þig fram? Sigurður Ragnarsson skrifar Skoðun Við styðjum Guðmund Karl! Katrín Valdís Hjartardóttir,Andrea Bóel Bæringsdóttir,Guðbjörg Harpa Ingimundardóttir skrifar Skoðun Hagfræðin á Heimildinni Bjarnheiður Hallsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Hreinleikaþráin Bjarni Karlsson skrifar Skoðun Heimilisleysi blasir við öryrkjum Svanberg Hreinsson skrifar Skoðun Hvað getur Ísland gefið öðrum þjóðum? Gunnar Hersveinn skrifar Skoðun Veðrið, veskið og Íslendingurinn María Rut Kristinsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Að mæðra barn í hjarta sínu Hólmfríður Anna Baldursdóttir skrifar Skoðun Jákvæður orðaforði eykur hamingju og vellíðan Helga Fjóla Sæmundsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Öll með? – 4.020 kr. hækkun fyrir skatt eftir 16 mánuði! Unnur Helga Óttarsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Látum hjartað ráða för Sigrún Traustadóttir skrifar Skoðun Vekjum risann Guðmundur Karl Brynjarsson skrifar Skoðun Katrín Jakobsdóttir forseti Viðar Pálsson skrifar Skoðun Þjóðarsátt líka fyrir fatlað fólk Geirdís Hanna Kristjánsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Í ker eða kistu Kolbrún Áslaugar Baldursdóttir skrifar Skoðun Gummi Kalli er rétti kosturinn sem biskup Íslands Áslaug Helga Hálfdánardóttir,Dís Gylfadóttir,Guðni Már Harðarson skrifar Sjá meira
Crisis everywhere but in Iceland? I´m a writer from Spain. Many things shocked me when I moved to Iceland. But now after almost 8 years there is something that shocks me more than when I saw for the first time the plumber taking off his shoes before coming in my house. I am very surprised because there seems to be a crisis everywhere except in Iceland. While all the attention on the news go to the volcano and Covid, the prices in Iceland keep on rising. The Real Estate situation The thing is I wanted to buy a bigger apartment. I saw a nice one and I bid for that without asking for discount (I didn´t dare). Then some hours later the real estate agent told me I had to pay for some extra repairs on the house (worth ISK 2 M) and I accepted. And the next day he told me I had to raise my offer up because some other customers did it, otherwise I was out of the auction. Wow, I just needed to invite the owner to Hotel Rangá with a prepaid dinner. Of course, I said yes and of course someone else offer more than me and I lost the apartment. And not only the real estate prices, also the cars, the services, the food ... Reykjavik or Montecarlo? By the way, I have never seen so many luxury cars as nowadays. The rúntur in Laugavegur is not the same anymore. No sign of the old Toyota, Nissan or Subaru (I miss them). All the cars are Porsche, Land Rover, Audi, BMW, Mercedes ... And Tesla was the car best seller in 2020. This city looks like Montecarlo! The ferming About clothes. I went to Kringlan in February to buy some clothes for my kids. The shop assistant told me there were not sales because it was ferming season. And the same extends to computers, phones, motor bikes, etc. Wow, it looks parents spare no expense when it came to confirmation celebrations in Iceland. I´m shaking, my oldest son is 13. I don´t know what he is going to ask me for. I need hardly to write a bestseller. Luckily, he doesn´t have driving license yet. As a result of this compulsive consumerism, the inflation rate in Iceland is almost 3%. Expensive even for Icelanders When tourists come again, they will be way safe from Covid, but when they see the prices they will faint and fall backwards. Iceland is expensive even for Icelanders. I guess that is why moonlighting is so necessary and asking for loans a habit. However, Iceland is facing the highest unemployment rates (7%) in recent years and the low interest won´t last forever. On the other hand, it´s a fact the tourism, the main source of the Icelandic economy in recent yearshas been reduced to ashes. Perhaps the only positive thing is that it gives us the possibility to start from scratch. For example, do we want fewer tourists but with greater purchasing power? Then we should improve some facilities. In crises like that there are always new opportunities. The Government is doing well Unlike in other countries, the Icelandic Government has managed to keep the economy alive by subsidizing companies and unemployed workers until the tourists come back. At the same time, the Covid looks to be under control, which currently can be considered another economic rate. Therefore, if nothing unexpected happens, Iceland will be the favorite touristic destination in Europe, and we will be safe again. The hungover The fact the government is paying the bill for everything is fine and to spend the money of the holidays we didn´t go as well. However, it can produce a fictitious economic peak situation and, consequently, an exaggerated consumerism and indebtedness of the population. Especially in Iceland because the loans are indexed to inflation and the krona is more volatile and vulnerable than other currencies. Film director Borkur Gunnarsson once told me that Icelanders are not afraid of going bankruptcy because they know that one way or another the State will protect them and no one in Iceland starves or sleeps on the street. I hope so. Jordi Pujolá is a fiction novel author and economist living in Reykjavik.
Nýr „loftslagsvænn“ iðnaður - neikvæð áhrif á lífríki og fiskveiðar Sæunn Júlía Sigurjónsdóttir Skoðun
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