Who will be stuck with debt?

Markets worldwide are skittish over failing investments linked to U.S. subprime lending

By Mike Hughlett | Tribune staff reporter

August 11, 2007

From New York to Frankfurt to Singapore, the financial players who run, analyze and regulate the world's markets were scratching their heads in collective puzzlement and worry Friday, offering the same view: something's gone askew and everyone's worried about who's holding the bag -- in this case, of bad debt.

This state of agitation, which has roiled global markets for two days, can be explained in one phrase: fear of a credit crunch.