The small nation of Iceland， among the world's most northern states， faced the prospect of a financial freeze this winter after the collapse of its three major banks. Victims of the worldwide credit crisis， Kaupthing， Glitner， and Landsbanki， fell within days of each other after they were unable to cover their loans. They had accumulated massive debts， equal to more than $30 000 for every person in this tiny nation， which has only 300 000 people – roughly 1/40th the population of Beijing! The country's total debts， at $100 billion dollars， are six times its annual GDP of $14 billion.

冰島是世界上地理位置最北的國家之一。冰島三大銀行倒閉后，這個小國今冬可能遭到金融凍結(jié)的噩運。全球信貸危機受害者Kaupthing、Glitner和 Landsbanki三大銀行因無法償還貸款，在數(shù)日內(nèi)相繼倒閉。它們債臺高筑，相當于這個小國人均負債3萬多美元，而該國只有30萬人口，大概是北京人口總數(shù)的1/40！該國總共負債1000億美元，是其年均GDP 140億美元的6倍。

Until recently， Iceland was a relatively backwards and impoverished country， at least for Europe.Its industry depended on fishing and farming， and it had no stock market until 1990. In the last twenty years， however， a wave of financial deregulation and aggressive investment meant Iceland's weath skyrocketed， making it the fifth richest country in the world per head. The capital， Rekyjavik， previously a sleepy little town， suddenly filled up with skyscrapers and 4x4 vehicles.

冰島過去是一個相對落后與貧窮的國家，直到最近幾年情況才有所好轉(zhuǎn)，至少在歐洲可以這么說。漁業(yè)和農(nóng)業(yè)是冰島的支柱產(chǎn)業(yè)，直至1990年冰島才出現(xiàn)了股市。然而在過去的20年內(nèi)，放松金融管制及積極投資浪潮使冰島財富飆升，并使冰島的人均財富在全球排名第五名。冰島首都雷克雅未克先前是一個毫無生氣的小城鎮(zhèn)，瞬間被摩天大樓及四輪驅(qū)動車輛占據(jù)。

Things look bad in Iceland as a result of the collapse. The stock market has gone completely， inflation is over 15%， and the country's currency， the Krona， is worth a third of its former value.For a nation heavily dependent on imports， with the winter coming， this is potentially disastrous.The state is virtually bankrupt， and will have to secure large loans from other countries and the International Monetary Fund in order to meet its obligations.

三大銀行的倒閉使冰島的情況看上去不容樂觀。股市已經(jīng)關(guān)閉，通貨膨脹率超過15%。該國貨幣——克朗幣值縮水到原來的三分之一。嚴冬正逼近，這對一個嚴重依賴進口的國家來說是潛在的災(zāi)難。這個國家實際上已經(jīng)破產(chǎn)，只能向其它國家及國際貨幣基金組織尋求大額貸款以償還債務(wù)。

Yet Icelanders are facing the prospect of the hard times calmly. Palme Vidar， a seventy-three year old Icelander， commented \"We have always swung between feast and famine. There have been terrible times before too， when the sheep bubble burst and the herring fleet failed. We always hang on. And you know， we were not going in a good direction. When I was a boy， if you went to the harbour to fish and you got wet， you could not fish again until the next day， because you had only one pair of trousers. Today people have too many trousers. \"

然而冰島人卻從容地面對艱難前景。73歲的冰島老人Palme Vidar就此評論道：“我們總是在盛宴和饑荒間漂浮不定。之前也有過可怕的年代，比如說羊群價格泡沫的破滅及鯡魚捕撈的失敗，但我們總是堅持下去。你知道，我們過去走錯了方向。當我還是個孩子的時候，如果你要去海港捕魚你便會弄濕衣裳，并且只能到第二天才能再去捕魚，因為你只有一條褲子。現(xiàn)在人們有很多褲子?！?/p>