The divisions between Northern and Southern, core and peripheral European euro zone countries have been emphasized many times since the credit crisis.
For ordinary people, this may be more starkly shown by new data from the European Central Bank which shows how household wealth plunged in some countries and increased in others.
The Irish were worst affected in the years between 2009-13, according to the data, with each person losing close to 18,500 euros ($21,000). Unsurprisingly, those living in fellow bailed-out countries Greece and Spain were not far behind, with declines of close to 17,000 and 13,000 euros respectively.
All three countries battled falling asset prices, rising unemployment and cuts to public sector pay. The data does not reflect recent economic improvements in Ireland and Spain.
In Ireland, there was a disproportionate amount of household wealth invested in property during the pre-credit crisis boom. House prices have staged a slight recovery in recent years, but are still around a third lower than their pre-credit crisis valuations.
In contrast, people living in the Netherlands and Germany saw substantial rises in their personal wealth over the same period, with wealth per person up by 33,000 and 19,000 euros respectively. Germans are more likely to invest in financial instruments, boosted by the ECB's actions during that time, than property.