The Japanese ratio peaked around 1990, and it was in the very next year, 1991, that the Japanese Bubble peaked. The peak of the US ratio was between 2005 and 2010, and the peak of the US Subprime Bubble was 2007 (Fig. 1.1). The economically troubled countries of the eurozone have a similar pattern to Japan and the United States.
The ratios for Greece, Portugal and Spain have almost the same time profile, and all of them peaked around 2000–2005. The peak of the Spanish property boom was just after the ratio’s peak, and the Financial problems of Greece also started at the same time. A particularly interesting case is Ireland, which showed a sharp rise in the ratio until around 2005.