"Unorthodox" crisis response policy FTW

[ddstory]

Remember Iceland's bank collapse? The country's economy tanking, angry people yelling and banging cutlery on the icy streets of Reykjavík, and people around the world pointing fingers at Iceland, citing it as the worst example of greed taking over a society? There were some pretty nasty comments, mostly coming from Britain (many of whose citizens

Comments

[abomvubuso]

I think we should've just blackmailed Europe with the Eyjafjallajökull volcano a bit more.

[ddstory]

[rimpala]

Is she... taking a bong hit, from Eyjafjallajökull?

[ddstory]

I'll tell you if you could pronounce the name! Hint:

[rimpala]

I think it's the climate, all those Viking countries do well because...er... maybe the colder weather somehow refrigerates the economy and keeps it fresh? I dunno...

[luzribeiro]

Or their brains. It keeps them cool and operating. Whereas eternal sunshine, dark olives and red wine, well...

[ddstory]

There's not much to do during the endless cold dark evenings, but to work hard, cook boiled ram's testicles, tell tales of the hiddenfolk, and make babies.

[peristaltor]

There are some rams who would dispute the options.

[sophia_sadek]

Those communists have no respect for law and order!

[gunslnger]

Iceland actually allowed its banking system to fail. Further, it put the burden of recovery on the creditors from the financial industry who had caused the crisis in the first place - rather than the taxpayers. No bank bailouts, and bank CEOs who had defrauded thousands of customers are now being prosecuted, and some of them now spending time in jail.

And in the U.S., who was calling for exactly this action again? Hint, not the Democrats. Second hint, not the Republicans. Here's a final hint.

[ddstory]

The Koch bros would approve.

[underlankers]

If your source is a site that considers democracy incompatible with freedom, your source can be disregarded.

[kylinrouge]

One of the first things Democrats did after taking back Congress in 2007 was raise the federal minimum wage 41% from 2007 to 2009. Result? The unemployment rate went from 4.4% in May 2007 to 10.1% in 2009. It is 9.2% even today -- four years later.

Take that, libtards! Here's another one: 100,000 people died around the world the night after Obama announced he was for gay marriage. Obama: Mass murderer???

[harry_beast]

Well done, Iceland, for setting an example for other countries to emulate. I am not convinced that the lessons of Iceland cannot be applied elsewhere. And I especially don't buy the too big to fail argument.

And it has worked. Because we knew exactly what we were doing, and why.
After the economy is fixed, humility is the next priority.

Iceland is too homogeneous!
And omogeneousphobia rears its ugly head.

SOSHULIZM!!! YOU CAN'T TOUCH THE BANKS, WE'LL ALL DROWN!!!1!1"
Actually, letting the banks fail is kind of a free market, let the Invisible Hand sort it out kind of thing to do. The socialist approach would have been to nationalize the bank.

[ddstory]

After the economy is fixed, humility is the next priority.

Naming the core reason for an outcome is essential to understanding how the whole thing works.

[harry_beast]

When it comes to economics, especially at the national and international level, I tend to be skeptical of people who claim that they know exactly what they are doing and what the outcome will be. I would be concerned about hubris.

[ddstory]

You, of course, are entitled to your skepticism.

And what the Icelandic people have been through in the last 3 years can hardly be called something worth boasting, or hubris.