Financial & Political Update from Iceland

Birgitta Jonsdottir is a member of the Althing, the Icelandic parliament. Her district is the Reykjavík South Constituency. She was elected to the Icelandic parliament in April 2009 on behalf of a movement aiming for democratic reform beyond party politics of left and right, called "The Movement." Birgitta is a poet and has been an activist and a spokesperson for various groups, such as Wikileaks and Saving Iceland. She also acts as a spokeswoman for the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative. She returns to discuss the misconceptions surrounding the alleged debt forgiveness in Iceland. We'll address truth vs. rumor regarding the economy and democracy in Iceland. Ever since the Icesave dispute in 2008, Iceland's economy has been in shambles. In the recent year or so, it has somewhat managed to get back on its feet. Jonsdottir says Iceland's aspirations of joining the EU are low considering the shape the Eurozone is in. Birgitta argues that although some things have improved in Iceland, many from the "Icelandic financial mafia" are still in high corporate and political positions in Iceland. We also discuss what is true when it comes to how the citizens of Iceland participated in writing their new constitution, online.