Introduction — Boom, Bust and Recovery

Abstract

In autumn 2008 Iceland became the poster child of the global Credit Crunch when our three international banks came tumbling down within a single week, amounting to one of the world’s greatest national financial crises. The tiny Nordic country was reported as being a rogue state defaulting on its obligations. In the years leading up to the Crash, Iceland had been trumpeted in world business media as an economic miracle. Its new breed of Viking Capitalists had become rock stars of the global finance-driven economy. Now their action was testing the very foundations of Europe’s financial system. A domino effect threatened. Half a decade later, Iceland was, however, already well on the road to recovery, with greater growth and less unemployment than most European states.