Why Iceland? How One of the World's Smallest Countries Became the Meltdown's Biggest Casualty

The reasons behind Iceland�s decline�and.what it now means for the rest of the world ..How did a nation of 300,000 build an international.banking empire of assets equaling 12 times its GDP�.and then lose it all overnight? ..�sgeir J�nsson, head of research and chief economist.for Iceland�s biggest bank, was in the midst of it all..Here, he explains the whole story of how Iceland grew.into a banking empire and then collapsed, including the.theory that Iceland�s fall was the result of a speculative.attack by hedge funds on the nation�s banking system..He examines the roles played by the United States and.United Kingdom, and predicts how the collapse will, in.turn, affect them. .

n++sgeir Jn++nsson is head of research and chief.economist at Kaupthing Bank, which was once Icelandn++s.biggest bank. He has written several books and articles.about Icelandic economy and history.