>> 1. Iceland let the banks fail. > Not really. It was a restructuring. In the restructure a holding company handed all the assets over to a new corporate enti

>> 1. Iceland let the banks fail. > Not really. It was a restructuring. In the restructure a holding company handed all the assets over to a new corporate entity. All debts and obligations were honored. Iceland refused to bail out the banks. Doing so would have mathematically impossible. The banks failed to honour their financial obligations, and Iceland did not repay the depositors of said banks when the savings accounts were closed. From the Executive Summary of the Report of the Special Investigation Commission (at http://www.rna.is/eldri-nefndir/addragandi-og-orsakir-falls-islensku-bankanna-2008/skyrsla-nefndarinnar/english/ http://www.rna.is/eldri-nefndir/addragandi-og-orsakir-falls-...): > After the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the government’s takeover of Glitnir and the lowering of Glitnir’s credit rating, it was very unlikely that these collateralised loans would be refinanced. It was absolutely impossible for the Icelandic state to meet payments on the aforementioned claims. The government was not able to secure loans in the international finance markets. In the evening of 7 October 2008, the FME decided, on the basis of Emergency Act (Act No. 125/2008), that a special resolution committee take control of Glitnir. > Shortly after the collapse of the banks in November 2008, an appraisal was carried out of the value of their assets. The results of the asset valuation showed 40% of the booked value at the time when the banks collapsed. The difference amounts to over ISK 7,000 billion For the depositors, one can read about the lengthy considerations and ongoing Icesave dispute at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icesave_dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icesave_dispute For what it is worth, I am a lawyer and recognized expert in sovereign insolvency, being the founder and an officer of a legal experts committee whose members include the counsel for Iceland's bondholders, the external counsel for Iceland for the crisis, the general counsel of the IMF and ECB and other central banks, among other experts. I am also friends with Gudrun Johnson, author of "Bringing down the Banking System", which I strongly encourage reading.