Literature prize
Awarded to the entire police force of Ireland for issuing more than 50 penalties to a man they supposed to be the most persistent driving offender in the country: a Mr Prawo Jazdy, whose name in Polish means “driver’s licence”. An investigation held earlier this year revealed officers had mistakenly taken down the wrong details from motorists’ documents.
Economics prize
Awarded to the directors, executives and auditors of four Icelandic banks: Kaupthing bank, Landsbanki, Glitnir bank and Central Bank of Iceland, “for demonstrating that tiny banks can be rapidly transformed into huge banks, and vice versa – and for demonstrating that similar things can be done to an entire national economy”.
4 replies on “Ig Nobel Awards”
Q: How do you buy a small bank in Ireland?
A: Buy a big one and wait.
Ah, the old ones are the best 🙂
Was Seanie shortlisted.
Best performance in a supporting role was the Irish banks, FInancial Regulator and the Duke of Drumcondra.
Not just in Ireland.
When I visited Lithuania in 1991/2 I was told to get a visa at the airport on arrival. The local military examined my passport and entered my two sons’ names in their ledger. I suspect the same sons are still officially in that country despite my exit and their current residences in two totally different countries.
By way of mitigation I should say, it worked. I got in and out and did my business. And the military did not screw up the prospective capital inflow into their country. So, excess/incorrect bureaucracy doesn’t matter as long as it doesn’t matter.