Asta From Iceland
Imagine being personally blamed for the collapse of your country's banking system. Well I'm sure it happens to some politicians, but let me tell you about a humble student studying at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. Asta Magnusdottir describes herself as a proud Icelander but in 2007 she watched in horror as the economic crisis unfolded and the banks went belly-up.
For Asta the first personal consequence was having her bank account frozen and her credit cards being refused in Scottish shops. Then came the stand-up rows with people who had invested in Icelandic banks and took their anger out on Asta as the closest, visible representative of the country.
It got so bad, she told me, that a holiday in Australia was a welcome relief because no one there seemed to know about Iceland's woes and no one was blaming her for anything.
I met Asta today at Pacific Quay when she came in to quiz me about public service broadcasting. She's writing her fourth year dissertation on the subject and drawing comparisons with Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio Scotland and Radio Iceland.
In her home country, public broadcasting is funded through a mix of taxation and advertising, but, because of the recession, the commercial broadcasters are challenging the dominance of Radio Iceland and want it to stop taking precious advertising revenue.
I told Asta there were some similiarities with the Ö÷²¥´óÐã's situation, but the arguments here were about who should get a share of the licence fee.
And, thankfully, no one has blamed me for what happened to the Royal Bank of Scotland.
That's what Fred Goodwin is for.
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