I don’t know if a phrase exists in Icelandic to say “This sucker could go down”, as George W. Bush, US president, remarked last week. But if there is, Icelandic leaders might need it soon.

Iceland’s travails have not been front page news this week in most of Europe or the US given the wider storm, but the story that has played out in Reykjavik might be a financial morality tale for us all.