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January 20, 2012
Friday
 
 
Reflections on the Iceland credit crunch disaster
Johnathan Pearce (London)  Globalization/economics • Slogans/quotations
"In retrospect, there are some obvious questions an Icelander living through the past five years might have asked himself. For example: Why should Iceland suddenly be so seemingly essential to global finance? Or: Why do giant countries that invented modern banking suddenly need Icelandic banks to stand between their depositors and their borrowers - to decide who gets capital and who does not? And if Icelanders have this incredible natural gift for finance, how did they keep it so well hidden for 1,100 years?"

Michael Lewis, Boomerang, page 36.

And I liked this line (page 37): "Leverage buys you a glimpse of a prosperity you haven't really earned."

Comments

"Iceland credit crunch disaster"

Good for Iceland that their credit crunch is behind them, they can get around to rebuilding a 'sustainable' [dread word] economy.

Our credit crunch should have taken place by now, but for the incestuous relationship between the banks and the state, the politicians and the bankers.

For a glimpse of what to expect, look at Greece.


Posted by APL at January 20, 2012 12:54 PM

I'm a fan of Michael Lewis. Looks like another book to add to my reading list.


Posted by Laird at January 20, 2012 01:57 PM

I was given a copy of Boomerang by one of my client contacts as a Christmas Holiday gift, and it's currently doing the rounds of the office.

It's a good book, well written, and entertaining. As a firm full of 'hedgies', we already know a lot of this stuff, but Lewis manages to keep the material fresh and readable, and so yeah, it's well worth a read.


Posted by Bod at January 20, 2012 04:14 PM

Remember that the government of Iceland (like all elected governments it appears) desperatly WANTED to betray the country.

Turn the population into European Union debt slaves (paying money they DID NOT OWE) to the British and Dutch governments for the next century?

"Wonderful - where do we sign?" was the attitude of the elected government.

Only TWO referendums stopped this.

However, the new Icelandic Constitution appears to be a mess.

Full of collectivist nonsense.


Posted by Paul Marks at January 25, 2012 02:48 PM
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