A $500 billion corporate-debt storm builds over global economy

Corporate bankruptcies are escalating globally, and experts warn that the fallout from what looks like the usual churn of capitalism may be more severe this time round. The deeper, more troubling issue that’s causing increased anxiety is the debt loads that escalated over the past few years. With central banks applying rising pressure on interest rates, many companies will be unable to repay their debts and even though less than 15% of the nearly $600bn of distress debt trading globally has defaulted, companies owing half-a-trillion dollars may struggle to do so.