BIS Review 106/2007  7  often portrayed as being driven by young couples trying to buy their first home, a more accurate description is that it is mainly being driven by older, higher-income households that are trading up to higher quality or better located houses, buying investment properties and taking out margin loans to buy shares.
Allow me to illustrate my point with this chart depicting convergence trajectories of total factor productivities (TFPs) of 23 EU economies since 1998. Countries in Europe grow at different speeds. They also appear to belong to different convergence clubs2. Even among Central European economies, more than one convergence club could be discerned.