A Book About the Lessons to Learn From the Icelandic Crisis Published: 21.06.2010
Kreppa! What We Should Learn From the Icelandic Crisis. Book on the Icelandic Crisis Out Now.
What were the reasons behind Iceland´s economic crash in the autumn of 2008? Could the crisis have been averted? What could we do in order to prevent anything similar from happening in the future? In the book Kreppa! What We Should Learn From the Icelandic Crisis, experts from different fields- both from within and outside Iceland- analyse the crisis from the vantage points of politics, economy as well as the common citizen.
The writers are the Vice-President of the European Parliament Diana Wallis, Professor Alyson Bailes, Economist Daniel Gros and Journalist Alda Sigmundsdóttir. The commentaries are by Professor Gylfi Zoega, Political Expert Ivo Thijssen and Research Advisor Björn Sundell.
What went wrong?
The book presents, among others, the following reasons for the crisis:
- The overlapping of ownership between media, politics and finance
- The national interests and ambitions of financial authorities in regard to the activity of their banks and communication thereof
- The blind trust of international investors in a guarantee for investments made, as well as the desire to invest in Iceland despite knowledge of the risks involved
- The lack of will of financial regulation authorities abroad (especially in the UK and Holland) to intervene in the activity of ICESAVE-internetbank activity in its early stages
- The one-sidedness of Icelandic exports, the debt of the public sector and the inability to support the banks when crisis struck; no adequate lender of last resort
- The complete dependency of the Icelandic economy on foreign capital
- The general vulnerability and fragility of global financial markets
The Future?
In the aftermath of the crisis, there is reason for many to take a good look in the mirror. It can be said that, in the case of Iceland, all possible parties involved made serious mistakes – both in Iceland as well as abroad. In this book, especially the role of global financial regulation and the savings guarantee schemes in their need for modernisation and increased efficiency is discussed. It cannot be that the nation-state is left alone in a situation where practically everything else besides financial regulation and the savings guarantee schemes are global in nature. The book also highlights risks innate small nation activity and points out that growth strategies should be based on sufficiently open discussion and interaction. In addition, the book contains analysis on Iceland´s possible EU and euro zone membership; several different viewpoints are presented on the topic. Finally, how Iceland could benefit the EU, for example due to its Arctic location, is discussed.
This book has been born out of cooperation between the Centre Group in the Nordic Council, ALDE Group in the European Parliament, the Finnish think tanks e2 and Magma, and Communication Agency Neuvosto Ltd. It has been published by Think tank e2, both in Finnish and English.
Additional information: Kimmo Collander, CEO, Neuvosto Ltd, +358 50 431 4982, Karina Jutila, Director, Think tank e2, +358 50 551 5361, Terhi Tikkala, Secretary General, Centre Group in the Nordic Council, +358 50 434 5019
Orders: info@e2.fi or by phone +358 44 5181 251 / Leena Koivisto
