With their economy collapsing in what will be remembered as the first financial collapse in a western democratic country since the 1930s, the Icelanders now face the delicate question whether to adapt the EU euro or the US dollar. Never before has the public opinion polls showed such a staunch support for dropping their own currency, the Icelandic króna (crown), and replace it with a bigger and stronger and more stable currency. And never before has the politicians of Iceland actually listened to the polls regarding dropping their currency! But I guess the rules are changing when the currency drops on about a little less than 60 % in value during a year.
The financial turmoil has showed how hard it is to govern a small currency (there are only a little bit more than 300 000 Icelanders in this world) when it starts to storm. Maybe not if you live in a socialist closed society like the Nordic societies pre 1980ish but to date it is almost impossible for an open economy to keep a currency going for 300 000 people only.
I think it’s fresh and provocative that the Icelanders actually ponder on the question whether they should adapt the euro or the dollar and not just go strict to the euro which a lot of people would assume as natural. First of all, they ARE in the middle and their culture is as much as American as it is Nordic/Scandinavian. It IS a mixture between two worlds and therefore they now have the “luxury” to choose between the dollar and the euro. I wish they pick the dollar. I don’t know if it is wise, but it would amuse me … 
