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Iceland Did It Right … And Everyone Else Is Doing It Wrong

By gnadivi   Follow   Sat, 25 Aug 2012, 7:58pm   882 views   7 comments
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http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/08/top-economists-iceland-did-it-right-everyone-else-is-doing-it-wrong.html

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1. mell Follow Befriend (5) 74 threads 1,406 comments Premium

   1   10:42pm Sat 25 Aug 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   Protected   True dat - even if Krugman says it ;)

2. iwog Follow Befriend (48) 274 threads 12,655 comments 47 male Lafayette, CA Premium

   2   2:33am Sun 26 Aug 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (3)   Dislike   Protected   I've said this here dozens of times. Iceland proves that letting the banks blow up is a pretty good policy.

3. theoakman Follow Befriend 2 threads 646 comments

   3   9:27am Sun 26 Aug 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   Krugman didn't endorse letting the banks go under. He fully endorsed the bailout and then made a call to break them up 2 months later. The banks should have all been allowed to fail from the get go. There was no advantage in keeping them around as they are a parasite to the economy.

4. freak80 Follow Befriend (4) 52 threads 4,416 comments Corning, NY Premium

   4   7:39am Tue 28 Aug 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   Protected

5. michaelsch Follow Befriend 21 threads 581 comments South Pasadena, CA

   5   2:11pm Wed 29 Aug 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   iwog says I've said this here dozens of times. Iceland proves that letting the banks blow up is a pretty good policy. Well, letting banks blow is a pretty good policy, however not many may afford it. Remember, Iceland got a Russian loan of about $6 billion, plus some additional loan guarantees prior to this. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/3151148/Financial-Crisis-Iceland-gets-4bn-Russian-loan-as-banks-collapse.html This made it protected from any banking blackmail. Iceland is a country of 250K citizens. Greece is 50 times bigger. It would need $300 billions. Spain would need close to a trillion and Italy -- much more than a trillion. They would need loans from China and even China would not be able to guarantee all of them.

6. michaelsch Follow Befriend 21 threads 581 comments South Pasadena, CA

   6   2:15pm Wed 29 Aug 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Actually, it turned out they did not even get the loans. Just negotiating them was sufficient. That may make it a good solution for other countries.

7. futuresmc Follow Befriend (1) 1 threads 400 comments Buffalo, NY

   7   2:20pm Wed 29 Aug 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   michaelsch says Well, letting banks blow is a pretty good policy, however not many may afford it. Remember, Iceland got a Russian loan of about $6 billion, plus some additional loan guarantees prior to this. This made it protected from any banking blackmail. Iceland is a country of 250K citizens. Greece is 50 times bigger. It would need $300 billions. Spain would need close to a trillion and Italy -- much more than a trillion. They would need loans from China and even China would not be able to guarantee all of them. While I understand bank blackmail, I also know that blackmailers are never satisfied. They keep uping the stakes because they can, because they have that leverage. Eventually, you either walk away and accept that your secret is going to come out, letting the chips fall where they may, or you live the rest of your life in ever worsening bondage. I do not trivialize the pain that the banksters would inflict to teach whichever nation defied them a lesson. I'm sure they have a nasty plan for Iceland already, like the IMF did to the 'Asian miracle' in the late 90's and early 2000's, but if any nation had a shot at breaking free of them, it would be the US. We have the most to loose, but we also have a large enough economy that destroying us could destroy them. Banksters are bullies, and the tactics used to combat bullying can be used against them. The US needs to find allies who are equally victimized by the banks and then nail our mutual oppressors to the wall.