Ruglaðir útlendingar

Simon Johnson, einn þeirra sem sat ráðstefnuna í Hörpunni á dögunum skrifar smá pistil á Bloomberg þar sem Ísland kemur örlítið við sögu. Þar fjallar hann m.a. um þá viðteknu venju stjórnvalda um alla veröld að kreista þá tekjulægstu og þá sem minnst mega sín til að greiða fyrir efnahagsleg afglöp stjórnmálamanna. Á þessu eru þó ánægjulegar undantekningar eins og hann bendir á:

„The only politician I’ve heard address this point directly is Iceland’s finance minister, Steingrimur Sigfusson. In a fiery speech at an International Monetary Fund conference in Reykjavik on Oct. 27, Sigfusson made it clear that he will do everything possible to protect Iceland’s lower-income population.

Finance Minister Sigfusson is a geologist, a former truck driver and a tough politician. His party is not implicated in the financial fiasco and he may get his way in terms of policy priorities. Most other finance ministers lack his clarity of thought on this issue. "

Undir lok greinar sinnar setur Simon Johnson síðan stöðu Íslands í samhengi við önnur lönd:

„Let’s be honest. We are all now fighting to maintain our subsidies and our tax benefits. Iceland has no choice but to cut; the size of its disaster was overwhelming. Greece is heading in the same direction. Countries such as Italy and France may soon follow.“

Einhverntímann hefði nú verið sagt að svona ruglaðir útlendingar þyrftu á  endurmenntun að halda.