The Great Recession has shown the dangers of household debt. In the U.S., the process of household deleveraging has held back consumer spending, keeping unemployment high and the economy depressed. In Spain and Ireland, households and the government are being forced to slash spending sharply, pushing both economies into painful recessions.

http://blogs.wsj.com/brussels/2011/12/05/household-debt-woes-dutch-edition/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=brussels