Thursday, December 18, 2008

OH - now I get it.

I have to admit - the whole Iceland collapse has always perplexed me. Oh sure, I've read how it happened. I guess I tend to think greed has a purpose. You want to buy a McMansion, or whatever silly nonsense people want to do. But, Iceland has almost nothing. 45 people live there, and even if every person in Iceland had a mansion, the kind of money the government was playing with doesn't make sense to me. What were they going to do with all that money?

Then this presser came over the wires this morning, and all became clear.

From Yahoo News:

"REYKJAVIK (AFP) – Icelandic star Bjork and financial services firm Audur Capital have launched a venture capital fund named after the singer which is focused on feminine values and the environment, they said Thursday.

Audur Capital, which numbers 15 women among its 17 employees, says its aim is "incorporating feminine values into the world of finance."

The company will put 100 million kronur (584,000 euros, 832,000 dollars) into the fund, and will invest in sustainable businesses that create value through leveraging Iceland's resources, nature, culture and green energy.

"We believe in the future potential of women and socially responsible businesses and we simply reject the view that it is either about financial returns or social benefit," the company, founded by two women, says on its website."


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Call me naive - but, I don't understand a venture fund that isn't about "financial returns". I think they call that a charity. No? Turns out Iceland is okay with just giving its money away. Because they are a benevolent people. I guess.

3 comments:

  1. Yeah - me too. I'd rather people be honest and just say "I'm gonna try to make a bunch of money out of this". I could respect that more. Instead they try to front and say they are doing it for the greater good.

    And besides - what are feminine values when it comes to investing anyway? Didn't Bjork slug someone in the airport once? Those feminine values?

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  2. Well, this goes to show that if your run-of-the-mill leftist is delusional, the Icelandic kind is totally insane. In case anyone hadn't noticed, their banks are belly up and bankrupted their little Nordic outpost in the North Atlantic (banks so staggeringly irresponsible that Wall St. looks downright stodgy in comparison). Nobody in his (or her) right mind is going to lend those people a penny. And to say up front that you've got more important things to do with the money than turn a profit - well, maybe that's the "feminist" way to run a business, but they better hope there are a lot of Algores and David Suzukis in this world willing to put their money where their mouth is. Which Keyser thinks an unlikely proposition.

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