Matthew Lynn skrev i slutet av förra året en intressant artikel i Spectator om hur Island har hanterat finanskrisen,
Iceland’s three big banks, Glitnir, Kaupthing and Landsbanki, did end up being taken over by the state, but, while domestic depositors were protected, the government didn’t attempt to meet all international obligations. Kaupthing, for example, is being wound down, and has been renamed Arion Bank. This approach was very different to the British, American and Irish bank rescues, which tried to cover all bank losses by pumping untold billions of taxpayers’ money into financial institutions.och
In truth, the Icelandic experience raises an alarming possibility for the rest of the developed world. Maybe we didn’t need to bail out our banks quite so expensively. Maybe we should have let them go bust?Staten garanterade förvisso alla inhemska sparares pengar, men i övrigt har man låtit det mesta inom banksektorn dratta på ändan. Utan några hemska konsekvenser. Troligtvis är det ett historiskt misstag man begår nu i många länder med att pumpa in enorma mängder skattepengar i banker som måste räddas. Lär av Island.