There are some parallels to be drawn between the predicament that debt-laden commodity businesses find themselves in and our personal households. Although gross oversimplification is a risk, this is one way to examine the situation.

Commodity headlines this week are dominated by the free fall of Glencore stock as the company appears stuck between a rock (debt) and a hard place (the slowing economy in China undermining overall commodity prices). The problems faced by Glencore and similar businesses are complex, but the basic mechanism underlying them perhaps is not. There are some parallels to be drawn between the predicament that debt-laden commodity businesses find themselves in and our personal households. Although gross oversimplifica...