The Future Is Another Country

This is my sixth volume of essays in Icelandic. It was published in December 2001 by Iceland University Press. My latest collection of essays, Trade for Gain, came out in 1999. The one before that, High Time, came out in 1995.

The 42 essays in the new collection are divided into six parts. In the first part, Political Economy and History, the subjects include the future of Reykjavík, different views of the world, the powerlessness of public opinion, and Iceland’s history of trade over the past 60 years. The second part, Finance and Productivity, takes up people’s attitudes to their own and to other people’s money, the financial maturity of nations, money, inflation, unemployment, and the standard of life in Iceland and elsewhere. The third part is entitled The Króna and the Euro. It deals with the exchange rate of the Icelandic króna and its recent substantial depreciation and with different exchange rate regimes, including the current question whether Iceland should discard the króna and adopt the euro instead. In the fourth part, Economic Growth and Education, the main sources of economic growth around the world are discussed, including education. Several chapters explore the relationship between natural resource abundance, education, and economic growth. In the fifth part, To Sea, the focus turns to fisheries and agriculture in the context of other aspects of economic life in Iceland, including education. The case for fishing fees is reviewed. The sixth and last part, Other Countries, spans a wide range. It deals with the new economic geography, France, women, the Middle East, and more.

The book is 368 pages.