, schularick, and taylor ( 2017 : p. 8 ) shows the capital ratio, averages by year for 17 countries. the blue line plots the mean of capital ratios in the sample countries between 1870 and 2013. the red line refers to the median of the sample countries. the grey area is the min - max range for the 17 countries in our sample. details are given in the original paper. source : jorda, richter, schularick, and taylor graph 6 : bank nonperforming loans ( % of total loans ) graph 6 shows the development of non - performing loans to gross loans ( the total value of the loan portfolio including nonperforming loans before the deduction of specific loan - loss provisions ). vertical line separates the pre - crisis period ( up to 2007 ) from the crisis period ( as of 2008 ). france in % germany greece italy spain us source : world bank graph 7 : gross domestic product ( annual growth rate ) graph 7 shows the development of the growth rate of the gross domestic product in the us and the eu15. the eu15 comprises the following 15 countries : austria, belgium, denmark, finland, france, germany, greece, ireland, italy, luxembourg, netherlands, portugal, spain, sweden, united kingdom. vertical line separates the pre - crisis period ( up to 2007 ) from the crisis period ( as of 2008 ). in % us eu15 - 2 - 4 - 6 source : oecd graph 8 : gross domestic product ( annual growth rate ) graph 8 shows the development of the growth rate of the gross domestic product in the us and selected european countries. vertical line separates the pre - crisis period ( up to 2007 ) from the crisis period ( as of 2008 ). france in % germany greece - 2 italy - 4 spain us - 6 - 8 - 10 source : oecd graph 9 : gross fixed capital formation ( annual growth rate ) graph 9 shows the development of the growth rate of capital formation. gross fixed capital formation ( gfcf ) is defined as the acquisition ( including purchases of new or second - hand assets ) and creation of assets by producers for their own use, minus disposals of produced fixed assets. the relevant assets relate to products that are intended for use in the production of other goods and services for a period of more than one year. vertical line separates the pre - crisis period ( up to 2007 ) from the crisis period ( as of 2008 ). france in % germany

evidence is needed to assess the effects of financial sector reforms and to improve the quality of public spending for real economic development. ten years after the crisis – where do we stand? the global financial crisis that began ten years ago had many causes. as was the case for many financial crises in history, high levels of debt which were inconsistent with real economic fundamentals were a key propagation mechanism. recessions which have been triggered by debt - financed booms tend to be more protracted and deeper than normal recessions ( reinhard and rogoff 2014 ; schularick, jorda and taylor 2013 ). debt levels and the financial sector reducing debt to sustainable levels has thus been a key goal of post - crisis financial sector reforms. nevertheless, progress in deleveraging has been slow, and debt levels remain high. general government debt relative to gdp has increased globally ( graph 2 ). the rise in the share of public debt is the result of outright rescues of financial institutions, fiscal spending, and / or a decline in underlying growth dynamics. it reflects the fact that, during the crisis, risks were shifted from the private to the public sector. patterns of adjustment of private sector debt have differed across countries and sectors ( graph 3 ). there are few countries in which there has been a significant deleveraging of the private sector. such deleveraging trends often mirror the increase in private sector lending prior to the crisis : while lending boomed, for example, in spain or greece, it declined relative to gdp in germany. to a large extent, private credit is channeled through the banking system, including loans from non - residents ( graph 4 ). this increase in foreign assets and liabilities reflects the increasing globalization and integration of banking markets. this allows better risk - sharing and allocation of capital across countries. but high volumes of foreign borrowing may also reduce reform incentives and lead to a misallocation of credit. 3 moreover, the degree of cross - border risk sharing through credit markets remains limited, and the integration of bank retail markets has not progressed much in the post - crisis period ( ecb 2017 ). see reis ( 2013 ) for a discussion of the portuguese case. given the importance of banks as intermediaries of private sector credit, the leverage of banks is a major factor contributing to the stability of finance. highly leveraged financial institutions have weaker buffers against shocks and may react in a more procyclical manner. higher capital in the financial sector does not necessarily reduce the