That&#x27;s <i>usually</i> true for personal debut. For governments, it&#x27;s a dangerous misconception.<p>The only problem with personal debt is when it becomes systemic. The fallacy of composition is that what&#x27;s good for individual is not necessarily good if we all do it at the same time. Normally lowing your price to be more competitive is a useful strategy, but not when it becomes a race to 0. We saw this in the great depression with farmers publicly throwing out their product.<p>As for governments, the austerity meme is class politics in disguise, and tends to lead to nasty social blowback. Governments can change monetary policy and other law, giving them a lot more options.