I need a more detailed example of the debt for opportunity you speak of. In the real world a mortgage is some such debt but if this type of debt were reconsidered overall as a society would the citizens be worst off? I’ve accepted for a long time, as you, that you need to accept debt to grow but I am beginning to question even this premise. Also, how do you avoid running on permanent debt if you accept its need?
“I need a more detailed example of the debt for opportunity you speak of.”
Well, sure, that’s simple. Reagan’s buildup of our military in the 80s was based on debt and resulted in our debt spiking over $1 trillion for the first time. The Russians could not keep up with us in that arms race, and trying to tanked their economy because they could not easily obtain loans like capitalist countries. If we hadn’t incurred that debt, Russia would likely have been able to keep up in the arms race and we’d still be dealing with the worldwide threat of the USSR instead a weak and isolated Russia.
Or you could look at the Revolutionary war, when we needed to quickly build up our forces to stand a chance against the British, we were forced to beg the Europeans for loans. Had we decided that going into debt was unacceptable, then we would have simply lost the war and been stuck as a British subject.
“Also, how do you avoid running on permanent debt if you accept its need?”
You pay off the debt in good times when your tax income is high and there is no immediate need for taking on more debt to respond to some crisis.