Iceland shows proof that arresting the bankers that caused the bailout is beneficial

[nitroz]

In 2008, Iceland didn't bail out the banksters they Arrested them. Now there economy is growing faster then the EU's. More arrests were made today. Google: "Iceland arrests bankers" and learn about this.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64eI831eKY8&hd=1]What We Can Learn From Iceland - YouTube[/ame]

Iceland Dismantles Corrupt Gov

 

[Star]

"We’ve heard in this country for the past several years of housing crisis that principal forgiveness rewards bad actors and causes moral hazard, and that we can’t do that to the poor, put-upon banks. Well guess what? Debt write-downs work. They generate a wealth effect among the population, and they help to end balance-sheet recessions and bring about economic growth. What’s more, Icelandic home values came back, just 3% off their September 2008 pre-crisis level. You can take the example of Iceland or you can take the example of the rest of Europe. It’s your choice. But the facts reveal that austerity is counter-productive, while debt forgiveness is extremely productive."


Interesting how Iceland's story is barely getting a mention in the corporate media? I wonder why?



Cenk Uygur Asks If the US Should be Following Iceland's Model in Dealing With the Financial Crisis | Video Cafe


June 12, 2012 07:55 PM


For all the fearmongering we hear out of our politicians on the right about how heaven forbid we're going to turn into Greece, the one country you never hear them talk about any more is Iceland. The reason they don't is, as Cenk Uygur explained on his show this Tuesday, they took a different path than the United States after their financial crisis and nationalized the banks, threw some the people responsible for the crash in jail and bailed out the homeowners instead of worrying about only bailing out the banks. And now they're coming back and their economy is growing again.

FDL's Dave Dayden has been writing about the financial crisis in depth for some time and he visited the set of The Young Turks to discuss whether the United States should be looking to Iceland as a model to emulate as he wrote about here: Iceland Provides Blueprint for How to Deal With the Financial Crisis:

I love this story. It’s one of those that calls to mind the old Margaret Mead dictum, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

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.
Since the end of 2008, the island’s banks have forgiven loans equivalent to 13 percent of gross domestic product, easing the debt burdens of more than a quarter of the population, according to a report published this month by the Icelandic Financial Services Association.
​

So does the story end there? Did the people revolt and the banks give in, leading to a lower standard of living or some financial disaster or something? No. Debt deleveraging successfully brought back the Icelandic economy.

The island’s steps to resurrect itself since 2008, when its banks defaulted on $85 billion, are proving effective. Iceland’s economy will this year outgrow the euro area and the developed world on average, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates. It costs about the same to insure against an Icelandic default as it does to guard against a credit event in Belgium. Most polls now show Icelanders don’t want to join the European Union, where the debt crisis is in its third year.
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. On top of that, a Supreme Court ruling in June 2010 found loans indexed to foreign currencies were illegal, meaning households no longer need to cover krona losses.
​

We’ve heard in this country for the past several years of housing crisis that principal forgiveness rewards bad actors and causes moral hazard, and that we can’t do that to the poor, put-upon banks. Well guess what? Debt write-downs work. They generate a wealth effect among the population, and they help to end balance-sheet recessions and bring about economic growth. What’s more, Icelandic home values came back, just 3% off their September 2008 pre-crisis level. You can take the example of Iceland or you can take the example of the rest of Europe. It’s your choice. But the facts reveal that austerity is counter-productive, while debt forgiveness is extremely productive.
​

More there so go read the rest. Dave's interview with Cenk below the fold.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

http://www.usmessageboard.com/polit...s-has-been-deemed-impressive.html#post5866953

maybe merge these threads?

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

the problem is the links are antisemitic and Ron Paul followers are always on the fringe of that shit

"The best part, is that they have arrested ALL Rothschild/Rockefeller banking puppets, responsible for the Country’s economic Chaos and meltdown."

 

[Truthmatters]

and helped the little guy.

it worked

 

[Sunni Man]

No doubt we should follow the tiny country of Iceland's lead concerning banks and global economics.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

No doubt we should follow the tiny country of Iceland's lead concerning banks and global economics.

funny, we are always told what little nations are doing wrong as an argument for why we shouldn't try something. I wonder how many times people making these arguments use what small nations are doing right, as an argument for what we should be doing?

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

No doubt we should follow the tiny country of Iceland's lead concerning banks and global economics.

funny, we are always told what little nations are doing wrong as an argument for why we shouldn't try something. I wonder how many times people making these arguments use what small nations are doing right, as an argument for what we should be doing?

Of course deregulating is the best solution. That way capitalism can work. Then, you have 310 million consumer regulators rather than a few in DC who set policy for the entire country and then sink the entire country.

Now even a liberal can see why the USSR failed and why capitalist China is now getting rich.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

No doubt we should follow the tiny country of Iceland's lead concerning banks and global economics.

funny, we are always told what little nations are doing wrong as an argument for why we shouldn't try something. I wonder how many times people making these arguments use what small nations are doing right, as an argument for what we should be doing?

Of course deregulating is the best solution. That way capitalism can work. Then, you have 310 million consumer regulators rather than a few in DC who set policy for the entire country and then sink the entire country.

Now even a liberal can see why the USSR failed and why capitalist China is now getting rich.

the evidence suggest you are stupid as shit

 

[waltky]

Are we goin' into a double-dip recession?...

Spotlight on bankers
Aug. 27, 2012 - In two major markets, the United States and Europe, central banks are finding themselves cornered by, respectively, a sluggish economic recovery and a stagnant one.

In truth, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has a clearer path ahead of him than his counterpart at the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi. Both, however, are perched on separate precipices, surveying the possibilities of the next policy moves. A year ago in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and the annual Fed getaway, Bernanke laid out plans for a $600 billion quantitative easing program, which provided a jump start to a then-sluggish recovery, and not much has changed 12 months later. The announcement also triggered grumbling around the globe, especially from countries such as China and Brazil who have their hearts set on an expensive U.S. dollar to keep their export businesses profitable.

Should the Fed choose to launch QE 3, as the easing will be the third round in the post-recession era, Bernanke will once again need to explain, for what it's worth, that the value of the dollar is not the primary reason for a new round of bond buying. He will convince nobody overseas of this line of reasoning, but he will try, anyway. In a much tighter political, Draghi will speak Saturday, following Bernanke's speech on Friday morning. As a quick aside, it is not an accident that markets will still be open when Bernanke speaks and not when Draghi speaks.

That said, Draghi needs to negotiated a clouded political atmosphere in Europe, where German central bank President Jens Weidmann, a former adviser to Chancellor Angela Merkel, is taking advantage of his new bully pulpit by obstinately opposing bond buying by the ECB. Merkel last week sounded softer in her approach to Greece, where Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has been seeking an extension on terms that dictate the availability of international loans.

Merkel told members of her own party during the weekend to show some solidarity in the message that the eurozone, including Greece, must remain intact. She also said Greece was "making a serious effort" to bring its budget into compliance. In France, taking a more socialist stance, President Francois Hollande said the terms of the loans should not, in effect, kill the patient. The terms should be "tolerable for the population," he said, as quoted by The New York Times.

MORE

 

[editec]

I doubt it would help THIS economy, but it might help prevent the same bad behavior in the next economy.

Plus it would make me feel better.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

funny, we are always told what little nations are doing wrong as an argument for why we shouldn't try something. I wonder how many times people making these arguments use what small nations are doing right, as an argument for what we should be doing?

Of course deregulating is the best solution. That way capitalism can work. Then, you have 310 million consumer regulators rather than a few in DC who set policy for the entire country and then sink the entire country.

Now even a liberal can see why the USSR failed and why capitalist China is now getting rich.

the evidence suggest you are stupid as shit

please present your best evidence or admit as a liberal you lack the IQ to do so.

 

[MikeK]

I doubt it would help THIS economy, but it might help prevent the same bad behavior in the next economy.

Exactly.

Plus it would make me feel better.

Me, too. A lot better

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

I doubt it would help THIS economy, but it might help prevent the same bad behavior in the next economy.

Exactly.

Plus it would make me feel better.

Me, too. A lot better

why not hold liberals responsible since they had over-regulated the industry to the point where capitalism was not working.