We examine the consequences of a sudden increase in household debt burdens by exploiting variation in exposure to household foreign currency debt during Hungary's late-2008 currency crisis. The revaluation of debt burdens leads to higher default rates and a collapse in spending. These responses...

"Beginning with the 2008 global crisis in the United States, and particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic shook economies around the world, academics, practitioners, and other experts have become increasingly sensitised to the potential for financial and economic fragility to result in a...