Run on the Banks

Lebanon, in many respects, is a country steeped in libertarianism. It's always a dubious endeavor to overlay imported political ideologies onto a place you barely understand, but it's hard to look at Lebanon's government, and it's fairly limited roles and responsibilities, and not conclude that the country and its people adhere to a belief in small government. That said, calling a country "libertarian" is a great example of the way Americans (like myself) tend to see the world according to the political framework they know, without considering that other nations operate on fundamentally different premises... Anyhow, this comes to mind because as we were walking through the old city, Bechara noted a number of old banks we passed. Lebanon has long been a preferred banking destination for well-heeled individuals and companies throughout the Middle East. People throughout the region have brought their money here, and one reason why is because up until 1964, the Lebanese banking industry was almost entirely unregulated.  With minimal oversight, few regulations to adhere to, and no one policing the system, Lebanon was seemingly a very attractive destination for financial sharks, but in 1966, there was a massive run on the Lebanese-owned Intra bank. Intra bank collapsed due to dubious practices, which led to reform throughout the country's financial sector. While Lebanon today has far more financial regulations than in 1966, it's still less policed than other nations. I bring this up because given the global financial meltdown of 2008, it's worth examining how other countries run their financial systems. Take Iceland. Unlike the USA, those guys made damn sure no one was going to be screwing over the Icelandic people after it happened once, by prosecuting the guilty parties involved...  Food for thought...