Matt Yglesias

44 Responses to “Things Still Looking Down in Iceland”

1. Petey Says:
   October 14th, 2008 at 2:17 pm

   It’s not so bad. The Icelandic stock exchange index is only down 77% today.

2. Lori Says:
   October 14th, 2008 at 2:21 pm

   ah, dang, that fare is only from NYC or boston. Maybe I could get a deal from DC too.

3. Petey Says:
   October 14th, 2008 at 2:21 pm

   “I loved my trip to Iceland and would go if I had time, but the election’s a busy season. “

   You should quit your job, sell your condo, move to Iceland, and buy real estate there with dollars.

   With a ten year time horizon, you end up winning big. Plus you can still blog from Reykjavík. (Gesundheit.)

4. sam Says:
   October 14th, 2008 at 2:22 pm

   ah yes, but what can my American dollars buy me…will restuarants be so desperate for a different currency that I could eat well? How far will the dollar go right now, and in the next couple of weeks..

5. Al Says:
   October 14th, 2008 at 2:27 pm

   One may think that you are taking advantage of people in times of trouble if you visit now at heavily discounted rates. But, in fact, you are really doing them a favor by going now, since they need all the dollars they can get at the moment. I spent a good bit of time in Argentina in 2002, and things were dirt cheap (still are, in many respects). You could get 4-course meals at fancy restaurants is BsAs for, like, $20. But they really, really needed the dollars at the time, so I don’t feel one bit bad about it.

6. Petey Says:
   October 14th, 2008 at 2:32 pm

   “One may think that you are taking advantage of people in times of trouble if you visit now at heavily discounted rates. But, in fact, you are really doing them a favor by going now, since they need all the dollars they can get at the moment. I spent a good bit of time in Argentina in 2002, and things were dirt cheap (still are, in many respects). You could get 4-course meals at fancy restaurants is BsAs for, like, $20. But they really, really needed the dollars at the time, so I don’t feel one bit bad about it.”

   Capitalist swine!

   (No disagreement on the merits. South Asia was a good place for a visit in the wake of the ‘98 devaluation too. Places like Bali got very cheap. And I don’t think it a bad thing that Europeans have been flooding into NYC over the past couple of years…)

7. daveNYC Says:
   October 14th, 2008 at 2:40 pm

   I agree with Al, they’re an import dependent country and at the moment their currency is not being traded. Tough to buy imports when that happens.

   I’m considering going, but I’m probably going to end up packing in some food and toilet paper. Damn that’s messed up.

8. Peter K. Says:
   October 14th, 2008 at 2:49 pm

   I’ll pay for the new Sigor Rós album but that’s the most they’ll get out of me. Reckless Viking people.

9. sam Says:
   October 14th, 2008 at 2:53 pm

   I’m serious, I’ll go in a heartbeat… if the US Dollars goes far…Iceland and the rest of Scandanavia (ah the “is Iceland part of Scandy argument”) is not a place to go if you’re low on cash..so someone give me a quick CPI in Iceland…and translate that to US dollars.

10. Sam Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 2:55 pm

    and Peter K, if I go I;ll pick up their new album for you.

11. Haukur Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 2:59 pm

    Finally an Iceland-related post I can believe in. Yes, by all means feel free to visit us and take advantage of the situation. The króna has no fixed exchange rate at the moment outside of the country. Inside the country the exchange rate is set by the Central Bank of Iceland. Today you can get 110 krónur for a US dollar. At the start of the year I think it was something like 70 krónur per dollar. If you find a bank outside Iceland which will sell you krónur you’ll probably get more. The situation is volatile and something quite different may be true tomorrow. Negotiations are under way for a big loan from Russia – that might change things.

12. Sharon Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 3:02 pm

    So, there’s no chance of them running out of food or rioting or something, is there? Because I may really do this …

13. Nylund Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    Seriously, is there a way to trade my dollars for lots of Krona? I have friends there that I’d like to visit. I’m cash-strapped at the moment though, but it their currency is so bad it can’t be traded, shouldn’t I be able to get a wheel barrow full of cash for my $$$’s?

14. pseudonymous in nc Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 3:09 pm

    I’m considering going, but I’m probably going to end up packing in some food and toilet paper.

    Take booze. Buy sweaters.

15. Andrew Fly Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 3:27 pm

    They’ll have plenty of cheap booze there, but yes buy some sweaters.

    Probably the world’s nicest people, although as a black person I did get some stares. Although not a creep as the stares i got in Wales

16. thehova Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 3:38 pm

    Obviously, from a rational point view, the Icelanders should be thrilled at the prospect of an increase in tourism.

    Yet, I’m not sure it would play out that way.

17. Barbara Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 4:06 pm

    I visited Iceland at about this time of year and it was a great trip. I would go but not in the next two weeks. Maybe the weekend after the election — our favorite thing was the horseback riding, which was glorious. Oh yeah, the Blue Lagoon was pretty special, along with the glaciers and the geysers.

18. Jasper Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 4:24 pm

    Yeah, but can Icelandair afford spare parts?

19. PhillyGuy Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 5:56 pm

    Hmmm, it’s tempting, but the notion of taking advantage of someone else’s misery feel vaguely immoral. I understand the deal with the Euros in NYC, but let’s be honest, what’s happening in Iceland is much, much worse.

20. mvanburen Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 6:05 pm

    I visited Iceland three years ago, and found goods and services to cost in the range of three times what they might cost in the US (e.g., $50 for a CD, $20 for a pound chicken breasts). Maybe with the devalued kronur prices are only about twice the US rate.

21. Petey Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 7:13 pm

    “Hmmm, it’s tempting, but the notion of taking advantage of someone else’s misery feel vaguely immoral. I understand the deal with the Euros in NYC, but let’s be honest, what’s happening in Iceland is much, much worse.”

    Which is precisely why they need the hard currency much, much more.

22. daveNYC Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 7:15 pm

    Hmmm, it’s tempting, but the notion of taking advantage of someone else’s misery feel vaguely immoral.

    It’s not like you’re buying their children, and they really could use the USD/EUR/GBP.

23. david morris Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 7:55 pm

    I can’t count how many times Iceland has held its ground against the Greenland Menace in RISK. If I can find the time and scrounge up the dollars, I’m going.

24. Mike Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 11:42 pm

    Alright, I’m going during Christmas vacation. Talked me into it if the fares from middle USA aren’t too much higher.

25. Mike Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 11:43 pm

    Except that the Web site’s down.

26. Elatia Harris Says:
    October 15th, 2008 at 12:40 am

    At the risk of sounding like a shill for the Icelandic Tourist Board, any time at all is a good time to see this marvelous country. You cannot imagine the beauty of the terrain — it’s new earth, compared to anywhere else. Surtsey, the last patch of volcanic earth to join the off-coast islands, arose from the sea in the 1960’s, and if you have any Jules Verne left in you, Iceland and its outlying islands cry out to you to be seen. You have not met a people like the Icelanders, either — they are kind and brave and funny and smart, and they all start speaking English in the 2nd grade. You can be in Reykjavik in a 4.5-hour flight from Boston — do it!

27. jbryan Says:
    October 15th, 2008 at 1:47 am

    I guess the country must have imploded, since Iceland Air no longer exists. Oh well, so much for that trip.

28. Petey Says:
    October 15th, 2008 at 5:11 am

    “It’s not like you’re buying their children”

    Are their children for sale? I smell a modest proposal. Just remember to add bay leaves for better flavoring.

    “and they really could use the USD/EUR/GBP.”

    Please don’t encourage the English to visit other countries. The English are an awful people, and should stay at home and bother one another.

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