Debt. And a lot of it bad.

From the NY Times

NARVIK, Norway -- At this time of year, the sun does not rise at all this far north of the Arctic Circle. But Karen Margrethe Kuvaas says she has not been able to sleep well for days.

What is keeping her awake are the far-reaching ripple effects of the troubled housing market in sunny Florida, California and other parts of the United States.

Ms. Kuvaas is the mayor of Narvik, a remote seaport where the season's perpetual gloom deepened even further in recent days after news that the town -- along with three other Norwegian municipalities -- had lost about $64 million, and potentially much more, in complex securities investments that went sour.

"I think about it every minute," Ms. Kuvaas, 60, said in an interview, her manner polite but harried. "Because of this, we can't focus on things that matter, like schools or care for the elderly."

Norway's unlucky towns are the latest victims -- and perhaps the least likely ones so far -- of the credit crisis that began last summer in the American subprime mortgage market and has spread to the farthest reaches of the world, causing untold losses and sowing fears about the global economy.

Used to be places like Argentina that defaulted on its loans from other nations.

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