Much of Europe still clings to late Medieval notions of debt sanctity, with laws to match, though a spate of suicides is forcing reform. In Spain the banks can sieze all your current and future assets if you cannot pay the mortgage - which tends to happens when the jobless rate jumps from 8pc to 26pc - adding the legal costs of foreclosure for good measure. Leaving aside the morality of state coercion to uphold the interests of creditors alone, this practice is inefficient. It blocks the cleansing process of boom-bust cycles, trapping economies in excess debt.