Comparing these two countries doesn't really make much sense: US: 300+ million people. Iceland: 300+ thousand people.
Funny thing is, there were Americans on the board of directors of Icelandic banks. I guess you could call one of them the king of carry....
8% isn't that bad considering their currency went to sh*t and interest rates are what? 15%? 12% inflation isn't so bad, either. It's not Zimbabwe over there. More like an inflationary recession.
Max Keiser said he traveled to ReykjavÃk before the crisis to warn bankers the Krona would soon collapse and their financial sector was geared too high. They laughed it off. Later that weekend at some hotel, Kesier said he ran into some brokers from Lehman. Being a former Wallstreet ball-swinger, he struck up a conversation. The Lehman guys said they had a bunch of Wallstreet dark pools lined up to short-squeeze the Krona and crash the economy. Said they would make a killing. Very much reminiscent of Confessions of an Economic Hitman. Except now Wallstreet is cannibalizing Western Economies instead of third-world dumps.
Here's the interview. 1:00 in. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8u14h3RhHgs&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8u14h3RhHgs&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
I stated what I did not for purposes of comparison, but to state that even with relatively higher unemployment, etc., things aren't collapsing here either. Not yet. Icelanders are fine, even with thumbing their thoughts at the UK.
Inflationary recession, my ass... Have you ever been to pre-crisis Iceland? Do you know what it takes to bring an Icelander out on the street (we're talking about 1% - 2% of the country's total population; think about this for a second) to participate in an actual riot, with tear gas, police, etc? With all due respect, you guys don't really get the magnitude of what happened...
I could, but there are eloquent accounts from better writers than myself that I think accurately describe what happened. The famous 'Wall St on the Tundra' article by Michael Lewis (which I am sure you have read already) is quite good at disecting the crisis. If you want the account of the actual riots, just read for the article on Kitchenware Revolution in the Reykjavik Grapevine.