Why is the world slowing down?

Every minute, South Korea’s household debt rises by an estimated US$100,000 (RM427,930) as projected from Bank of Korea 2019 figures, amounting to a whopping US$1.7tril (RM7.27tril) today. Every day, more than 100 South Koreans are declared bankrupt. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the country’s government debt has skyrocketed to 840.2tril won (RM2.96tril), an increase of 111tril won in just six months.

Debt is not only a Korean problem, of course. In fact, according to stock market index S&P and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the debt of all nations reached US$53tril (RM226.7tril) in the first quarter of 2020; of that, 34 of the world’s richest nations borrowed US$11.4tril (RM48.7tril). Corporate debt at the end of 2019 reached an all-time high of US$13.5tril (RM57.7tril).