Interest rates soared again last week. This weekend a lot of people are running a lot of numbers and getting some terrifying results.

It seems that the past few years of falling interest rates have lulled a big part of the global economy into financing with variable-rate debt. So when interest rates go up, there’s a world-wide reset in interest costs that, best case, amounts to a tax increase on individuals and businesses and, worst-case, threatens to blow up the whole system.

The most familiar but least worrisome part of this story is the adjustable rate mortgage, or ARM, which is basically a teaser-rate home loan that rises over time towards the prevailing 30-year fixed rate. This rate jumped from 3.5% to 4.5% in just the past month, which means ARM resets are now aiming at a higher target.

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