Part of the answer is that Iceland let foreign lenders to its runaway Banks pay the price of their poor judgment, rather than putting its own taxpayers on the line to guarantee bad private debts.

But I think Socrates means more than that, more than simply he wishes to rely on the powers of private individual judgment.

"Finally, the court held that even if petitioner were found to be a" private person, "relevant state law required a summary judgment for respondents."