But in countries like Italy, Spain, and Greece, the length of a bankruptcy proceeding is measured in years, not months or weeks, as in the US. Moreover, in most of continental Europe a person can be discharged of his or her debt only after a lengthy period, often 5-7 years, during which almost all income must be devoted to debt service.
当然，欧元区外围也出现了大量破产。但在意大利、西班牙和希腊等国家，破产程序耗时需要以年计，而不像美国那样只需要几周到几个月。此外，在大部分欧洲大陆国家，个人只有在相当长的一段时间——通常需要5—7年——才能摆脱债务，在此期间，他的大部分收入都必须用于偿还债务。