Svo mikið krútt!
I believe there are probably lots of cultural reasons for this, but I would like to postulate that one reason Icelanders are almost happy about the recession here is linguistic. You see, they do not have a complex, overbearing, latinate to describe this nebulous process like recession or depression. Ye gads! No, they have a really cute word for it, a word that cannot help but sound cute no matter the context: kreppa. It almost sounds like a dance or something. It also reminds native speakers (and here I am just WILDLY speculating) of another Icelandic word, skreppa, which means to stop by, do something quick. Which is also a really cute word.
Comments
I thought skreppa's main meaning was 'slip' - thanks for letting me know this!