Iceland, which demanded its leaders & bankers answer for their crimes, is now reaping the benefits

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. The moral of this story: Whatever the banksters tell you to do, do the opposite

In the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis, the conventional wisdom was that the East Asian countries needed to enter austerity and deregulate their financial systems more.

Malaysia, whose partly Islamic heritage made it leery of Western-style banking in the first place, said, "Oh yeah?" and immediately put tight controls on trade in its currency, the ringgit. It also avoided austerity measures.

The banksters predicted disaster.

Guess which country emerged from the crisis first.

Just two years ago, the righties were touting Ireland and Latvia as shining examples of the benefits of deregulation and low taxes.

You don't hear that anymore, now that both countries' economies have crashed through the floor.

Instead, you hear the righties saying that the trouble with Europe is "too much socialism," and guess what their remedies are: deregulation and low taxes.