Three years ago Iceland was in economic meltdown with financial problems every bit as bad as those in Greece today. Icelanders listened to the IMF and it's European partners as they urged them to do what Greece is doing now, ignored them completely, arrested their bankers and politicians and rewrote their entire constitution to outlaw casino banking. European leaders threw their hands up in horror and predicted dire consequencies if Iceland didn't do as they wanted. Yet, while Greece sinks into the abyss, Fitch, the global rating agency, has raised Iceland's sovereign rating this week from BBB- to BB+, which means it is now considered safe again for investment purposes. Fitch has said that its decision "reflects the progress that has been made in restoring macroeconomic stability, pushing ahead with structural reform and rebuilding sovereign creditworthiness". In other words its decision reflects the fact that Iceland gave the global finance industry the finger, made its banks pay its own debts and threw into prison all those who had betrayed their country. They also refused to cut their own economy off at the knees in order to please the banks and kept up spending for a full year in order to stimulate their economy. Meanwhile Fitch have downgraded five other Eurozone counties who have adopted the belief that they can cut their way out of recession, while Moody's have put Britain on negative watch and Standard & Poor's have downgraded nine Eurozone countries in all. "There is no alternative?" Iceland proves that there is.
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