“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.
I have never once seen thr debt actually being paid off. The Reagan example is good and you may think it was worth the cost but it also never got paid off and left a taste for debt in nation. Had there been an effective method to make it clear that Regans defense spending was a one time deal out of true necessity it could have been a shining example however, in reality, it’s an example on how the spending is justified and they move on to the next threat, which will justify incurring more debt. It’s not just government spending unfortunately. I mentioned before that much of the economy these days is complex debt swaps, insurance, derivatives. Much of it isn’t real. No more manufacturing and an unsustainable reliance on a continuance of the lie. It may work for a few but this economy no longer works. I listened to Carl Icahn explain what he would to to protect his money in this environment (he seems quite sharp). His answer highlighted, to me, how much the economy is not built to work for thr average person.