I agree; let us not forget that due to EU, Greeks got looser borrowing from banks, and they bought German products. Last time I was in Romania for a business trip, I saw a similar picture. Goods flow from Western Europe to Romania together with easy credit. That spoils people quickly.
I live in Romania and the picture ain't at all similar.
Surely you can spot luxury cars on our streets. But in general I haven't seen those cars purchased by people that can't afford it. Also, many luxury cars that you see have been purchased from second-hand dealers from other countries for cheap. And let me assure you that most luxury cars you see in Romania (and you can spot many of them) are bought by people that can afford to pay cash ;-)
I do worry about loans for purchasing homes.
In our country it is much better to own your apartment than to rent it, especially in the big cities, where rents are equal to how much you'd pay for the monthly loan payments. Landlords also make it difficult to rent an apartment for a long time. But young people these days do not make enough money to ever have a chance of purchasing their own property, without getting loans from banks. And as long as the system does not collapse, it is better for them.
This is not the same thing as buying luxury cars. And if this system collapses, only the banks should take the blame for passing loans to people that can't pay their debt on the long term.
