All of this ends badly. Perhaps it's time to stop the hand-wringing and get it over with? Tell the banks to pound sand and let the chips fall where they may. It's better than the alternative (currency runs). Even though I'm a free market guy, I like how Iceland back-stopped all deposits. It's quite nice. Afterall, it's the peoples money.
didnt read this entire thread, but prosecuting banks ,is a counter dagger to raiding private bank accts ,examples are being set,absorbed and accepted,would love to see prosecurions, indictments here that weren't excused with a 50 cent fine http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/23/w...apse-of-2-banks-in-2008.html?ref=iceland&_r=0
By telling the banks to pound the sand, you saved the Icelanders but screwed the mom & pop British & Dutch depositors. One reason why Iceland will never be allowed in EU.
Didn't Icelands itself quit the negociation table about entering the EU ? I think it's in one of the above links. If I remember properly, despite the banking crisis, Icelanders enjoy about the 4th highest purchasing power of all nationalities, they had the highest before the crisis. They already belong to Shenghen and have probably little to gain joining the EU - similarly to Switzerland and Norway, other very succesful european countries which joined Shenghen but not the EU. Also it makes much sense that investors or customers in a company (bank) lose money when it goes bankrupt rather than people unrelated to it (taxpayers). Reykjavik itself is less interesting than other scandinavian capitals, but other parts of the country, including its culture, are quite impressive. Curious to see wether more chinese move in and the country tampers the tax hikes which came after the crisis, would like very much to spend a couple of years there.
There are a bunch of rather unnapealing golf courses around Iceland, but not a single 5stars, the big chinese backed resort near Lake Myvatn does sound a bit weird. Outdoor scenes from Ridley Scott's Prometheus were shot in the same area, quite desolate indeed.
You have it backwards, you have to lure successful countries to join the EU. Iceland has a lot to lose with getting EU fishing quotas and little to gain by receiving some currency stability (if the euro survives!).
This. When depositors lose, so should bankers, and their management. Taxpayers have nothing to do with it. Socializing and guaranteeing bank debts by Government is the ultimate moral hazard. Breen gave a nice explanation as to how this entire crisis evolved from one larger moral hazard to the next, earlier in the thread. Maybe it started with the Savings and Loan crisis, I don't know.
Agreed. How is that not one employee at HSBC, who laundered over 1 Billion for Mexican drug cartels, has been arrested? Not one. Instead, the regulators imposed a fine of a few hundred million dollars. Fraud had run amok in mortgage underwriting pre-crash (ninja loans etc), yet again, not one person arrested. It seems the safest way to perpetrate crime in America - do it under the Corporate veil. Then somehow, in some way, accountability no longer exists. Sure the Corporation might get fined, but it's usually far less than the proceeds of the crime. If not, the Corp. can always file for bankruptcy. Win-win. Everyone is on the take. http://nyulocal.com/national/2013/04/15/congress-quietly-repeals-congressional-insider-trading-ban/