A working paper published by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) argues recovery from the financial crisis is being held back most by the "overhang" of heavy indebtedness.

Authors Stephanie Lo and Ken Rogoff find in Secular stagnation, debt overhang and other rationales for sluggish growth, six years on the "leading candidate" for explaining the sluggish recovery in many parts of the world is high leverage, which may be a "harbinger" of underlying forces "working against the health of