WSJ's Video: How Iceland's Financial System Crashed - massive debts, government falls

Over the past few months, Iceland's financial sector imploded, and recently, the government collapsed. The following two videos, from the Wall Street Journal Online, explain some of the dynamics behind this country's reverse of fortune.

HOW ICELAND COLLAPSED 12/26/08

"WSJ's Andy Jordan examines how Iceland's economic miracle came to an abrupt end and explains why the world should care about the collapse of the small country's financial system."

ICELAND COALITION GOVERNMENT COLLAPSES 1/26/09

"Iceland's Prime Minister Geir Haarde is preparing to step down after announcing the collapse of the county's coalition government. Video courtesy of Reuters."

RELATED
Website: The Icelandic Government Information Center: The Icelandic Government Center regarding the current financial circumstances in Iceland
ABC News Video: Iceland's Banking Meltdown (10/21/08)
BBC News Video: Icelanders' fury over economy (12/19/08)

"Iceland's people have been venting their fury over Iceland's economic collapse at public meetings."

"27 years on my job, is like you say, thrown out the window."

BBC News Video: Protesters hit Icelandic PM's car (1/21/09)
BBC News Video: Crisis claims Icelandic cabinet (1/26/09)

Articles:
Timeline: Iceland economic crisis (BBC News, 1/26/09)
Iceland's Coalition Government Collapses (Charles Forelle, WSJ, 1/26/09)
Banking Crisis Brings Down Iceland Government (Guardian UK, 1/26/09)
"Ruling coalition falls; First government to fail as result of global economic crisis"
Waking up to reality in Iceland (Analysis by Jon Danielsson, Economist, Financial Markets Group, London School of Economics - BBC News, 1/26/09)

"The bankers and government effectively turned Iceland into a gigantic hedge fund sitting in the middle of the North Atlantic...What they failed to implement was the necessary supervision or enforcement of banking regulations."

Sound familiar?

Financial Meltdown 101: Interactive Multimedia timeline by TruthDig on Capzles.

(The above screen is interactive. You can slide the photos back and forth, and select one to see the the content on the screen.)

Capzles is an interactive multimedia story timeline that I found when looking for timelines about the financial crisis. Meltdown 101 was created by TruthDig, a member of the Capzles community. Capzles can contain audio, video, blog post, photos, and other forms of content. More information can be found on the Capzles website.

Wall Street Journal's Interactive Graphics: Cracked Foundation; Housing Pain

Cracked Foundation is an interactive graphic that compliments an article in today's Wall Street Journal. A quick look at the first graph will tell you the scope of the problems facing the most hart-hit regions, in a way that words can not.

This is an example of visual information that would be useful in a interactive multimedia time-line.


October 8, 2008
Housing Pain Gauge: Nearly 1 in 6 Owners 'Under Water" (James R. Hagerty and Ruth Simon)
"More Defaults and Foreclosures Are Likely as Borrowers With Greater Debt Than Value in Their Homes Are Put in a Tight Spot"

CNN Money.com website's timeline of our economic woes...

Note: This photo is from the CNN Money.com website, and the photo is attributed to Spencer Platt/Getty. I am using this for educational purposes. The fall of the market is dramatically depicted on the screen the upper right hand corner of the photo, and the human response to the shock is reflected in the body language and expression of the man staring at his computer display. I will take the photo it down if it is requested.

CNN Money.com has a time-line of the recent events surrounding our current economic woes:

The crisis: A timeline
"A shocking series of events that forever changed the financial markets"

The CNNMoney.com timeline offers a bit of interactivity, but it is primarily text-based. Each article embeds links to related information, which is a good feature.