Britain = Iceland 2.0?

[2952-0-0]

Let's see: small North Atlantic island nation, high current account deficit, massive global financial sector, carry trading currency, and now banks that are essentially bankrupt.

I don't like being alarmist, but this has too many similarities with Iceland in substance if not in magnitude.

[GMantis]

Let's see: small North Atlantic island nation, high current account deficit, massive global financial sector, carry trading currency, and now banks that are essentially bankrupt.

I don't like being alarmist, but this has too many similarities with Iceland in substance if not in magnitude.

I wouldn't call 60 million small. The other things are right.

[minionofmidas]

In other news, Revolution in Iceland!

[Јas]

I suspect, unfortunately, that Ireland might meet more of these criteria than Britain.

[Sbane]

In other news, Revolution in Iceland!

HAHA that's some funny ass protesting. Also the PM of Iceland has almost no security at all.

[k-onmmunist]

Pah. We're far more able to recover than the Cod-thieves. I wouldn't worry.

[Sam Spade]

So long as Britain continues on its present course...

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Pah. We're far more able to recover than the Cod-thieves. I wouldn't worry.

But the British were the ones stealing Icelandic Cod.

[Matt Damon™]

Winston Disraeli is an ultranationalist.

[k-onmmunist]

Pah. We're far more able to recover than the Cod-thieves. I wouldn't worry.

But the British were the ones stealing Icelandic Cod.

That cod was British. Thanks to Iceland stealing it, Britain lost huge amounts of money.

[Dan the Roman]

While it is nowhere near as bad as Iceland, there are serious problems with the British debt, not least that they have been engaging in Enron like maneuvers to hide its real size. Due to Gordon Brown's breathtakingly stupid decision to kill the dividends for banks receiving bailout checks, the banking sector has been nearly entirely erased in terms of value. Banks in the UK have lost 80-90% of their value rather than 60% or so in the states.

The only thing keeping them afloat is government cash infusions. Banks like RBS are only existent because the government doesn't want to put their debt on the balance books. RBS is 70%+ owned by the government now, but is not nationalized because to do so would be to take on 2 trillion pounds in debt. Lloyds and HBOS is not much better post-merger. There is a very real scenario that the government could have assume as much a 8 trillion in debt. Not enough to bankrupt them completely, but enough to do a real number on the pound(parity anyone?), and force them to go to the IMF as Cameron just suggested in an untimely manner.

[k-onmmunist]

Britain is screwed. The country is over.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Pah. We're far more able to recover than the Cod-thieves. I wouldn't worry.

But the British were the ones stealing Icelandic Cod.

That cod was British. Thanks to Iceland stealing it, Britain lost huge amounts of money.

I know it pains the British to admit it, but Britain doesn't own the whole ocean.  Expansion of economic zones was an essential first step to deal with overfishing, and such expansion made that cod Icelandic Cod.