Nobody has been able to put an overall price tag on the meltdown, though some estimates run to $10 billion, $30,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. The bank collapse alone is expected to cost taxpayers nearly $3 billion, on top of another $3 billion the government has invested in the new nationalized banks built on the wreckage of the old. More than $1 billion has been pledged to pay out foreigners who deposited money in the collapsed banks, mainly in Britain, whose action in using counterterrorism laws to freeze the Icelandic banks’ assets in October is widely regarded here as having started the collapse.

Against this grim backdrop, the election unfolded in a climate of Nordic tranquillity. Although police reinforcements were deployed to protect against any effort to disrupt voting, election officials said they were more concerned with the logistics of counting votes, a process involving a squadron of light aircraft and small boats that ply between the Icelandic mainland and outlying islands, than with any deep concern about political disruption.

From the NY Times

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