Arnbjorn Ingimundarson

Iceland: When Too Big to Fail Becomes Too Big to Rescue

Iceland is indeed a good example of how overly generous the ratings agencies had been leading up to the current crisis. However, the unnamed local source is more indicative of the panic and rumors that are floating around Iceland at the moment than actual economic conditions. The owner of Iceland's largest supermarket chain was also the largest shareholder of Glitnir and is hurting financially. Financial troubles for one retailer, large at it may be, is not the same as the country's inability to import groceries.