It seems like, relatively speaking, Iceland sailed through this by acting like capitalists: they let the loans fail, consumers took a haircut, and bankers were sent to jail. Is this a worthwhile comparison or were there fundamental differences that I (very likely) don't understand?
I love the idea, but this really doesn't dispute the central point. Iceland is an economy with a $24B GDP that is smaller than Vermont's, the lowest US state. The claim is that letting large US banks fail is a systemic risk that causes cascading failure. Using Iceland as an example doesn't dispute that point.