BBC News: Q&A: Rising bad debts

"The higher rates go, the more people are likely to opt to become insolvent. The doomsday scenario is that so many people go insolvent as to cause what is called a credit crunch - where the banks, to protect their own finances, cut back on lending severely, sending the economy into a downward spiral."

And why is a lending cutback a bad thing? Because it will send BBC editors' house prices into a tailspin!