Europe in Revolt: The Iceland Myth

FEATURING VIDAR THORSTEINSSON – When Americans rail against government coddling of bankers and the 1 percent, many of us invoke the European island nation of Iceland as an example of how to tackle a financial crash. Internet memes in particular cite that Iceland “jailed its bankers and bailed out the people.” But how well did Iceland really recover from the recession and how progressive and anti-capitalist is its government?

Vidar Thorsteinsson, lecturer in the Department of Comparative Studies at Ohio State University and has been active in various social justice movements in Iceland. His essay in the recent anthology entitled Europe in Revolt is called The Iceland Myth.