If I choose to invest my money with a foreign-owned institution, and that institution should subsequently go bankrupt, am I therefore entitled to demand the citizens of the related foreign nation owe me my money back? Citizens who for the vast part had nothing whatsoever to do with the business dealings of the institution?
Hi there, and welcome to todays' burning issue for discussion. :-)
That's the question that Iceland has once again grappled with, and once again has given a resounding NO to the answer. And I 100% agree with that decision. Where should the buck stop? Liability is strewn all over the disastrous schmozzle that was the Icesave scheme in the UK and Netherlands - from the customer who accepted the risks (consciously or not) of placing their money with a foreign bank to the UK & Dutch governments that allowed the bank with a horrific risk profile to operate in their country, to the Icelandic government for failing to regulate the bank and it's ridiculous extravagances at home.
Nowhere in this jumble of responsibility do the citizens or taxpayers of a country appear. So I applaud the Icelanders for their two fingers up to the system again. They will not be spared the shit that the system will force them to endure as a result, but the expectation that a nation should just rollover and "take it" because "that's what should be done" in the eyes of the other countries is indefensible.
If only Icelandic President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, who forced the legislation to a referendum, could have done the same for Ireland...
