Publication

This paper analyzes the economic effects of different financial privacy regimes, comparing the US and the EU (specifically, Germany, Great Britain and France). It maintains that fewer privacy regulations exist in the US and credit reporting bureaus compete on a nationwide scale. On the other hand, in the EU, data protection and credit reporting schemes differ from country to country. Americans enjoy broad access to credit, but this correlates with greater indebtedness. In the EU, credit markets are thinner, but households generally hold less debt.