A few years ago, there are many, the crisis was raging in a few countries in Europe and North America. Iceland, a small country was one of them, an example for some on how it was able to get out of its crisis, its formula and the economic, political and social costs that they had to pay.
For months, quite considerably, the crisis in Iceland was present in the world media, given its refusal to pay the economic bubble that had been created on the island.
The crisis was such that it lost a third of its wealth and had all the numbers to move towards poverty and social exclusion. Many people wondered then for the true reasons for the crash that some identified in the financial pyramid, in the real estate bubble, in consumerism. It was their situation more than worrying, without any signs of solutions.
The ravages of the crisis made a whole government resign. The main banks were nationalized. It was decided not to pay the debt they had generated with Great Britain and The Netherlands for their infamous financial policy. A popular assembly was created to rewrite the constitution.
All this was done in a civilized way. It was a peaceful revolution against the neoliberal political-financial power that some accused of being the cause of the crisis. It is significant to remember that Iceland was used as an example of successful application of theories of Hayek and Milton Friedman, where its application had not been a "resounding" failure.
The pressure of the public at large made it possible to take some bankers to jail, a situation not very common in other countries.
Was the crisis in Iceland really a peaceful and exemplary revolution for Europe? Although each country has its own idiosyncrasy and the formula that is good for one country, for another it does not work.
The exit from the Icelandic crisis was easier, to a large extent, thanks to its economic, ecological, cultural and social particularities. The role played by society was very significant and deserves special mention that grown by women who have been the engine of the revolution and the change of the small country, where private banks failed, the regulatory system failed, politicians failed, administration failed, the media failed and the ideology of a free and deregulatory market completely failed.
With this issue about the ten years of the crisis in Iceland, we wanted to make known the origins of it, the solutions to so many failures and how the small country is now a decade later.
