Focus in the U.S. markets is on the U.S. markets.
Take a look at Iceland though... that country is in deep economic trouble.
When I was in Iceland one feature stuck out to me: there are no trees. Didn't see anything more than a shrub.
I learned later in Jared Diamond's Collapse that there used to be lots of trees but the Norse deforested it. The whole society nearly failed. They went through some hard times to recover their environment. But they made it through, and turned themselves into one of the most wealthy countries in the world.
Hundreds of years later, the government just nationalized their banks. The Krona is tumbling. The country needs a big infusion of cash to avoid bankruptcy. Seems like Iceland is in a much worse financial position than the U.S.
They've seen themselves through worse adversity before though. Hopefully we'll learn more about Icelandic tenacity.
Interesting to note that Warren Buffet could probably bail out the entire country himself.
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