áfallið
Áfallið, often translated as "the crisis" or "the collapse," refers to a period of significant economic and social upheaval in Iceland that began in 2008. The primary cause was the rapid and unsustainable growth of Iceland's three major banks, Kaupthing, Landsbanki, and Glitnir, which had expanded aggressively through leverage and acquisitions. When global credit markets tightened due to the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States, these banks, which were disproportionately large compared to Iceland's GDP, faced a severe liquidity crunch.
The Icelandic government was unable to bail out the banks due to their immense size, leading to
In response, Iceland implemented capital controls to prevent a complete flight of money from the country and