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Friday, June 12th, 2015

Three charts that show Iceland’s economy recovered after it imprisoned bankers and let banks go bust – instead of bailing them out

Author:     Hazel Sheffield
Source:     The Independent (U.K.)
Publication Date:     Wednesday 10 June 2015
 Link: Three charts that show Iceland’s economy recovered after it imprisoned bankers and let banks go bust – instead of bailing them out
Stephan:   To me it is glaringly notable that American media does not do significant coverage about what is going on in Iceland. Here's what they should be talking about: All of the world's nations except Iceland bought into Austerity Economics. Most, including the U.S. did little or nothing about holding the people responsible for crashing the world's economy and diminishing the quality of life and economic security. These policies have led to growing inequity of wealth, and impoverishment of people once solidly in the middle class. Iceland took a different course, and now we have actual data, as this reports describes, as to how that is working out: "This year, Iceland will become the first European country that hit crisis in 2008 to beat its pre-crisis peak of economic output." We know what works. The relevant question then is: Why aren't we doing it?  

Iceland’s finance minister has announced a 39 per cent tax on investors looking to take their money overseas.

The country has imposed the tax to prevent it hemorrhaging money as it loosens bank laws imposed six years ago, when Iceland made the shocking decision to let its banks go bust.

Iceland also allowed bankers to be prosecuted as criminals – in contrast to the US and Europe, where banks were fined, but chief executives escaped punishment.

The chief executive, chairman, Luxembourg ceo and second largest shareholder of Kaupthing, an Icelandic bank that collapsed, were sentenced in February to between four and five years in prison for market manipulation.

“Why should we have a part of our society that is not being policed or without responsibility?” said special prosecutor Olafur Hauksson at the time. “It is dangerous that someone is too big to investigate – it gives a sense there is a safe haven.”

Read more: Iceland: The economy that came in from the cold?
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