An update to Iceland's success since telling the banks..No Bailout.

A recent article in Bloomberg highlights the success the Icelanders are having since telling the banks they weren't going to bail them out back in 2009.

Some highlights from the article:
The island’s households were helped by an agreement between the government and the banks, which are still partly controlled by the state, to forgive debt exceeding 110 percent of home values. Icelands' banks have forgiven portions of loans equivalent to 13 percent of gross domestic product, easing the debt burdens of more than a quarter of the population. They figured that if the banks were going to profit from the loans they should also share in the risk associated with the loan.
Iceland’s $13 billion economy, which shrank 6.7 percent in 2009, grew 2.9 percent last year and will expand 2.4 percent this year and next, the Paris-based OECD estimates.
Iceland’s special prosecutor has said it may indict as many as 90 people, while more than 200, including the former chief executives at the three biggest banks, face criminal charges. Note that in the U.S. , NO top bank executives have faced criminal charges from the housing meltdown and financial collapse in 2008.

Iceland has placed the needs of the people ahead of the needs of the big banks and it is paying off for the overall Icelandic economy.
Full article here:
www.bloomberg.com...

Iceland did go through a lot of pain at the start as many bank balances vanished, international relations also hit a low as a lot of financial obligations also disappeared in the black hole. I have been expecting Iceland's recovery to be a lot quicker as they just cut away all the dead wood and started again, without the ongoing problems that many other nations are still facing. It still looks like the legal system still has a lot of work to do to get to the core problems, but is making good progress.

But also, They Threw Rocks

Hint. Hint.

Icelanders who pelted parliament with rocks in 2009 demanding their leaders and bankers answer for the country’s economic and financial collapse are reaping the benefits of their anger.

Just an update for this thread / topic - the failed Icelandic bank is now going to pay out to the UK.

www.bbc.co.uk...

So it actually appears that Iceland has perhaps not been as successful as we all thought (if so, why are they caving in now when the bank failed in 2008?).