Research report 2014 - Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Varieties of Financialization: What drives up household debt in Germany, and what curbs it?
Authors
Mertens, Daniel
Departments
Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung, Köln
Summary
Low interest rates from the European Central Bank, loan offers galore on the internet, zero-percent financing from retailers: it has rarely been easier to get personal credit. Evoking the dangers of excessive consumption and credit bubbles oversimplifies this phenomenon, however. A political economy of household debt puts household debt into perspective.