Great Graphic: Private Debt to GDP Ratios

This Great Graphic comes from Gavyn Davies at the Financial Times, who used World Bank data. 

When the European debt crisis began, the conventional narrative was that key problem was that many countries went on a spending spree, induced by the low interest rates that monetary union offered.  

Yet this seemed to only really apply to Greece.  That narrative did not apply so much to Ireland, with a housing market bubble, or Portugal, which suffered more from chronic slow growth and boost debt/GDP ratios.  Assistance for Spain has (thus far) been limited to its banking system.  While the debt of the public sector is clearly important, this chart shed light on the vulnerability emanating from the debt in the private sector.