Debtopia: Velocity Of Debt Creation In Asia A Margin To Equity Concern

Has debt creation, or Debtopia, gone a little too far, a little too fast? Is Asia the world leader in violating statistical margin to equity levels? A report from UBS Global Research, noting ballooning private debt, raises an increasingly common concern in the region: rapidly expanding debt and leverage ratios. “Debt is the problem, not the solution,” UBS Global Economists Duncan Wooldridge and Silvia Liu pointedly observed in the sarcastically titled report “Asia: Debtopia – We’re Number 1!” The faux nationalism regarding what is increasingly being viewed as a negative performance driver can be applied to sovereign and well as household margin to…