Reader comments from nytimes.com

Like many others, i had no idea that anything was wrong with iceland's economy before 2008. but my family lost all its savings during the crisis, and i was laid off and remain unemployed.



The value of my house has gone down by about 40 percent, while the mortgage has increased by 50 percent. Food and gas have also doubled in price, and we have in a few years gone from being a middle-class family earning fair wages to being very poor. Shame on the bank robbers who put us here. They all still roam the streets of London, Zurich, New York and Vancouver -and some can even still be spotted in Reykjavik.

-Name withheld, Iceland

Behind these numbers are stories of unemployment, bankruptcy, high interest rates and the bitterness of having to pick up the bill for reckless bankers as our lifetime savings disappear. But as inflation goes down, so will unemployment, and Iceland will get through this sooner than people think.

-Name withheld, Iceland

The social repercussions of this crisis are visible almost everywhere in society. Unemployment -usually very low in iceland -hasn't been this high since the 1930s.

And this year more than 1,000 people have moved to Europe in search of jobs -about 0.5 percent of Iceland's work force.

Plus the political situation in Iceland has literally become a joke, with voters electing a comedian as mayor of Reykjavik, reflecting their disappointment with the traditional political parties.

And while certain statistics might look positive in comparison to those of other hard-hit countries, different statistics must look really horrendous for Iceland.

Just look at the dramatic fall of the stock-exchange index -about 90 percent -which wiped out many people's savings.

-Bjarni J. Vilhjalmsson, Austria

Mr. krugman, although devaluation does prevent unemployment to some extent, salaries in iceland have gone down by 10 percent to 40 percent, and the combined value of savings, assets and homes has gone down by 15 percent to 30 percent.

I doubt that this particular brand of cold-turkey economic administration could be forced upon citizens of larger nations.

-G., Iceland

mr. krugman, is the icelandic model really applicable to the rest of the world? After all, I believe you have pointed out in the past that not every nation can devalue its currency.

Perhaps the lesson is this: He who devalues the fastest, wins.



-Nirad, Los Angeles

I hope you keep pounding away at this, mr. krugman.

the United states government is one of the few in the world that might pay attention to your argument.

In Canada we are going for austerity full-tilt, but President Barack Obama just might listen in your case -which is more than can be said about most leaders at the moment.

-Kevin O'Connor, Toronto