The 2008 Icelandic Financial Crisis by Arni Mathiesen

The Icelandic financial crisis was a major economic and political event in Iceland. All three of the country's major privately owned commercial banks defaulted in late 2008, making it, relative to the size of Iceland economy, the largest systemic banking collapse in economic history. The crisis led to a severe economic slump in 2008–2011 and significant political unrest. However, 13 years after the crash, Iceland is now growing at one of the fastest rates in Europe and is even paying back its enormous loans early – a tremendously impressive feat and one that could never have been imagined not so long ago.

Árni Mathiesen was minister of Finance during the 2008 financial crisis. He will be discussing the crisis from his perspective as minister and reflect on how the global financial markets are influenced post the crises today.

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