Help me help out Iceland

October 15, 2008 12:07 AM

I'd like to do Iceland a solid

It's common knowledge Iceland is getting hit hard by the global economy. I'm not sophisticated enough to speak to how much they deserve it. But I'd like to do my little part to help them out. I think they deserve some help. I don't have much (hardly any) capital to throw at their problem. Put it simply: what could I best do to help Iceland out. Write my congress-men and -women? Sign up for Eve Online? Students of global economy, give me some advice.

posted by nanojath to law & government (14 answers total)

Take a holiday there. Spend some money.
posted by pompomtom at 12:36 AM on October 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

Buy stuff at the Nordic Store.

Buy Sigur Ros, Bjork, and the fantastic mystery author Arnaldur Indridason. (I liked them and I don't by any means like all mysteries.)

Buy Skyr, an Icelandic yogurt that is produced by a 700-family-farm co-op.
posted by dhartung at 12:57 AM on October 15, 2008

Play EVE On-line, maybe? Can't recommend it, but I've heard it's fun. And developed and run out of Iceland!
posted by bardic at 1:43 AM on October 15, 2008

Take a trip there - bringing in your foreign dollars helps stimulate things more than you expect. It's supposed to be a great time to see the sights since the currency's worth less now than it was in the past...
posted by chrisinseoul at 2:20 AM on October 15, 2008

Write a letter to the WSJ explaining why investors should put their money in Iceland.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 2:32 AM on October 15, 2008 [2 favorites]

Definitely like Marisa's advice. That would have the greatest effect.

But yeah, just invest in them. They need capital. Does Iceland have anything like the US Treasury Bill that you can buy? You can help them, and profit at the same time. Seems win-win.
posted by gjc at 4:11 AM on October 15, 2008

But yeah, just invest in them. They need capital.

Don't do it. The Icelandic government just snapped and nationalized all of the banks right after they prudently asked for some liquidity support.
posted by b1tr0t at 4:56 AM on October 15, 2008

Things will be a bit rough, but Iceland will be just fine. Its ratio of resources (education, law and order, energy, minerals, sea food) to population will assure that. As with every crisis, true wealth will outlast issues in the capital markets.

By the way, while "deserved" applies more moral condemnation than business decisions merit, there is no one who can claim innocence -- not Iceland, not anyone. Whether it was financiers who made or bought CDOs about which they should have known better, or a secretary who bought a $600,000 house in Fresno on a $40,000 a year income, there was no denying the risk, nor the likely consequences of those risks becoming realized.
posted by MattD at 5:11 AM on October 15, 2008

Start an Iceland Mefi meetup...I'm game.
posted by melissam at 5:28 AM on October 15, 2008

Eat lots of previously frozen haddock.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 5:41 AM on October 15, 2008

The best thing you can do for Iceland is to inject your foreign currency into their economy in a way that will cause it to bounce around within Iceland for the longest period of time. Buy Icelandic goods made by Icelandic companies using Icelandic resources. The hard way to do this is to research individual products and companies to discover which are the "most Icelandic," but a much easier way would be to travel directly to Iceland and vacation there for a while (I hear it is a beautiful country).
posted by UrbanEconomist at 6:04 AM on October 15, 2008

If you decide to travel to Iceland, be very careful with the currency-- see if the hotel will agree to a USD rate, and consider converting some USD to ISK at the time of booking, perhaps.
posted by Kwantsar at 6:25 AM on October 15, 2008

Thanks for the answers. If only an Icelandic vacation were in my budget...
posted by nanojath at 1:21 PM on October 15, 2008

You could buy arts and crafts directly from Icelandic artists and craftmakers, for yourself or possibly as holiday gifts. If you're interested, MeMail or e-mail me with what you're looking for and I'll try to figure out which stores and artists to put you in touch with.
posted by Kattullus at 11:07 PM on October 15, 2008 [1 favorite]