Usury is a frequent occurrence in consumer credit markets and particularly affects low-income households. Although the term usury conjures images of a greedy individual consciously acting to exploit the weak bargaining position of another by deceitful and even fraudulent means, we consider it as...

Seit der Reform der gesetzlichen Absicherung bei Invalidität im Jahr 2001 sind Verbraucher verstärkt auf private Absicherung angewiesen, um die Einkommensverluste auszugleichen, die bei einer gesundheitlichen Beeinträchtigung der Erwerbsfähigkeit entstehen. Andernfalls droht ihnen ein hohes...

In the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, a significant research effort has been made to better understand the links between household debt levels, financial stability risks, and the ongoing implications of the 'debt overhang' for economic growth. However, accurately measuring the household...

Usury is a frequent occurrence in consumer credit markets and particularly affects low-income households. Although the term usury conjures images of a greedy individual consciously acting to exploit the weak bargaining position of another by deceitful and even fraudulent means, we consider it as...

Seit der Reform der gesetzlichen Absicherung bei Invalidität im Jahr 2001 sind Verbraucher verstärkt auf private Absicherung angewiesen, um die Einkommensverluste auszugleichen, die bei einer gesundheitlichen Beeinträchtigung der Erwerbsfähigkeit entstehen. Andernfalls droht ihnen ein hohes...

In the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, a significant research effort has been made to better understand the links between household debt levels, financial stability risks, and the ongoing implications of the ‘debt overhang’ for economic growth. However, accurately measuring the...

Compared to the U.S., the euro area has been underperforming in the wake of the Great Financial Crisis (GFC). This holds especially true for peripheral euro area economies. Whereas the U.S. is characterised by a financial system dominated by arms’ length (capital-market oriented) interaction...

The Capital Markets Union (CMU) is a flagship project of the European Commission that promotes a deepening of the financial markets. It aims at opening up new sources of funding for SMEs, as well as improving the matching between savers and borrowers. Additionally, CMU is supposed to increase...