Personal Debt in Europe

Analyses personal debt and the over-indebtedness of consumers in the European Union from the multi-disciplinary perspectives of economics, policy, and law.

Federico Ferretti and Daniela Vandone examine the 'dark side' of personal debt, or over-indebtedness, in social, economic and legal terms. This book will appeal to an interdisciplinary mix of researchers in Europe and around the world studying the impact of personal/household debt and the best ways to address it.Personal debt remains an important factor in many economic models because it encourages people to use debt to finance consumption. Whether this model is sustainable for individuals or the countries in which they reside is an ongoing question of great complexity and many social and economic implications, not only for the burdened individuals and their countries, but also for the EU as a whole. In Personal Debt in Europe, Federico Ferretti and Daniela Vandone examine the 'dark side' of personal debt, or over-indebtedness, in social and economic terms, and legal terms. They employ cross-country consumer-level data to present the latest empirical studies on the problem, analyse these findings to better understand its nature and causes, and discuss the merits of proposed insolvency legislation and harmonisation initiatives in the EU.