When arguing against the EU, the political parties scornfully cite Latvia as an example. That the country which is in the EU is facing a similar crisis to the one in Iceland, despite being a member. An interesting point, using the countries differences to make a point. 

More interesting to me after listening to the BBC are the similarities of the two countries. 

Latvian Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis and his centre-right government have resigned, amid turmoil triggered by economic crisis in the Baltic state. President Valdis Zatlers has accepted the resignations and is beginning talks to try to form a new administration. 

The country had enjoyed several boom years – in 2006 the economy was still growing by 12% a year – but the global credit crunch has hit Latvia hard. Correspondents say a major reason for the decline was that locally-owned banks, which make up 40% of the Latvian financial system, were taking deposits from abroad and investing them in the booming property market. When the property market begin to decline and foreign credit dried up, confidence in Latvian banks evaporated.

Sounds like the Latvians had their own right wing/centrist parties running their country into the ground. So the common ground sounds more likely to have to caused the crash instead of the difference.

Related posts:

1. Iceland banking inquiry finds murky geysers run deep
2. Are We Supposed To Accept This? No And No Again!
3. Guardian: Iceland One Year On
4. McDonald’s Leaving Iceland, The Village Idiots Of The World
5. Arc of insolvency