Why northern Europe is so indebted

I don't know the particulars of the other OECD countries, but in the Netherlands, the vast majority of household debts are mortgages (as alluded to in the article). The main drivers are probably the tax policy: mortgage interest payments were fully deductible (untill the very slow phasing out reforms after the 2008 financial crisis). This sounds similar as in the US, but in the Netherlands/Europe the effect is stronger because marginal tax rates are high (>50%) and the top income…

Seems a bit general. Sweden is very much in debt because of the housing market. 15 years ago there were little regulation. You could get a 100 year mortgage with a variable rate and no money down. At the same time the government sold large amounts of public housing at below public market rate. Interest rates went from ~4% to ~1.5%. With no wealth or property taxes, but with tax deductions for renovations and interest rate payments. Most apartment buildings…

Those barcharts are painful watch and to try and decipher. Who in their sane mind would use different shades of gray for different values?