In places such as Iceland, where bankers have not 'integrated' so deeply with the government, the banks were allowed to crash and top executives served years in

In places such as Iceland, where bankers have not 'integrated' so deeply with the government, the banks were allowed to crash and top executives served years in prison. [1] This included people all the way up to chairmen. It had a catastrophic short term impact, but Iceland's economy rapidly recovered and remains healthy to this day. Incidentally their current president has an approval rating upwards of 90%. Obama in 2009 was optically in conflict with bankers. Quoting things such as "I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street" [2]. 8 years later, he's getting paid $400k for 30 minute talks by them, repeatedly. For some reason banks and investors don't seem so anxious to turn Icelandic presidents into multimillionaires for a few hours of talking once they leave office. [1] - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/iceland-to-sentence-ninth-banker-found-guilty-of-market-manipulation-that-helped-cause-2008-a7349711.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/iceland-to-s... [2] - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-financial-regulation-obama-idUSTRE5BA4IF20091211 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-financial-regulation-obam...