6 ms·

As opposed to getting off the hook totally free and having all the other kids in school, who were smart enough not to invest, put in their own lunch money to pa

As opposed to getting off the hook totally free and having all the other kids in school, who were smart enough not to invest, put in their own lunch money to pay for everyone who was dumb (greedy?) enough to invest. Edit: How is that fair to the kids who weren't involved and now have less money for lunch?

peteretep 13y ago
You appear to be referring to tax payers in the UK and Holland who aren't only footing bills from their own banks, but also Iceland's.
- ItendToDisagree 13y ago
  Referring to the Icelandic public who would have been burned as well for the UK/Holland public's investments (at no tangible benefit to their public at large). While the UK/Holland investors, who lost their investments, lost a gamble and their country decided to minimize it for them (Edit: Likely to most of their population's chagrin). Or perhaps the people investing in the Icelandic banks were not investing? Was this some sort of special investment where you get a better rate than the regional banks without any sort of risk? When the entire game is rigged, and you're hoping to make a few quid out the side, you're probably going to get totally screwed somewhere, at some point. It totally sucks, I agree, but are you surprised that if someone could insulate themselves they would? Also there have been consequences for Iceland, particularly in terms of trust, and there won't be a lot of foreign investment in their financial structure anytime soon.
  - deong 13y ago
    > Or perhaps the people investing in the Icelandic banks were not investing? Was this some sort of special investment where you get a better rate than the regional banks without any sort of risk? Yes, in fact, that's pretty much it. The infamous Icesave accounts were savings accounts, not investments in the way you'd normally think of them. They were savings accounts that paid higher interest rates than just about anyone else in town (about 6% in the UK), but they still had the equivalent of FDIC protections (for the American readers out there). The problem is that the Icelandic equivalent to the FDIC had nowhere near enough money to actually pay back all the guaranteed deposits that were lost, so they said, "We'll pay the Icelanders back first and then....hey look! A squirrel!" The UK and the Netherlands stepped in to cover the losses of their own citizens, but they also took Iceland to the European Court for failing to honor the required guarantees. The importance was somewhat lessened as the assets of the failed Landsbanki bank that had offered these accounts could cover quite a lot of the debt owed to the UK and the Dutch, but yeah, Iceland did sort of screw them. Not that they had much choice, but there you go.

peteretep 13y ago

You appear to be referring to tax payers in the UK and Holland who aren't only footing bills from their own banks, but also Iceland's.

ItendToDisagree 13y ago
Referring to the Icelandic public who would have been burned as well for the UK/Holland public's investments (at no tangible benefit to their public at large). While the UK/Holland investors, who lost their investments, lost a gamble and their country decided to minimize it for them (Edit: Likely to most of their population's chagrin). Or perhaps the people investing in the Icelandic banks were not investing? Was this some sort of special investment where you get a better rate than the regional banks without any sort of risk? When the entire game is rigged, and you're hoping to make a few quid out the side, you're probably going to get totally screwed somewhere, at some point. It totally sucks, I agree, but are you surprised that if someone could insulate themselves they would? Also there have been consequences for Iceland, particularly in terms of trust, and there won't be a lot of foreign investment in their financial structure anytime soon.
- deong 13y ago
  > Or perhaps the people investing in the Icelandic banks were not investing? Was this some sort of special investment where you get a better rate than the regional banks without any sort of risk? Yes, in fact, that's pretty much it. The infamous Icesave accounts were savings accounts, not investments in the way you'd normally think of them. They were savings accounts that paid higher interest rates than just about anyone else in town (about 6% in the UK), but they still had the equivalent of FDIC protections (for the American readers out there). The problem is that the Icelandic equivalent to the FDIC had nowhere near enough money to actually pay back all the guaranteed deposits that were lost, so they said, "We'll pay the Icelanders back first and then....hey look! A squirrel!" The UK and the Netherlands stepped in to cover the losses of their own citizens, but they also took Iceland to the European Court for failing to honor the required guarantees. The importance was somewhat lessened as the assets of the failed Landsbanki bank that had offered these accounts could cover quite a lot of the debt owed to the UK and the Dutch, but yeah, Iceland did sort of screw them. Not that they had much choice, but there you go.