Debt can be terrible when you have no assets to counterbalance its existence, which then renders you unworthy of credit (being crushed under the weight of your own debt - this phenomenon happens to people just as much as it happens to the economies of countries).
If you have adequate assets in place and generate good income, debt can be leveraged and used to make money from it. Debt is a friend to the wealthy, leading to the growth of their wealth. To the poor, debt only digs deeper the hole they are already in.
An economy, by many respects, needs debt to exist. Banks make money that way (lending out money, creating debts that are in turn their assets and furthermore finding more credit-worthy individuals to lend money to and create more debt cycles).
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