We've reached the top of the global debt market - what next?

The impact of the credit crunch on homeowners is becoming apparent, but what about the financial institutions who make up around 78% of the world's debt issuance? Adrian Ash reports.

Is this what a credit crunch feels like on the ground? Way behind the curve of my own domestic finances as ever, I've been trying to raise a fresh mortgage on my house well, for around half of its outstanding value, at least.

In fact, I'm just one of 750,000 borrowers in the United Kingdom about to come out of a two-year fixed deal to find interest rates have risen from 4.50% to 5.75% since late 2005 and all of the lenders I've approached just raised their rates.

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Adrian has written all things gold related from if it’s worth buying, what the real price of gold should be and what’s the point of gold for MoneyWeek. He has also written for other leading money titles on his gold expertise including Business Insider, Forbes, City A.M, Yahoo Finance and What Investment Magazine. Now Adrian is head of the research desk at BullionVault, a physical market for gold and silver for private investors online.