If.<p>There&#x27;s three kinds of debt.  One is corporate.  A company took on debt to buy some equipment.  That <i>can</i> be mis-investment, but it&#x27;s usually pretty good.<p>Second, there&#x27;s personal debt.  That counts both mortgages (usually worthwhile, unless you buy more house than you need) and stuff like credit card debt, where you&#x27;re still paying for Christmas five years later.  So, some is worthwhile, some not so much.<p>Third, there&#x27;s government debt.  This <i>can</i> be used effectively to create infrastructure.  The problem is, though, that it&#x27;s allocated not by a careful cost&#x2F;benefit analysis.  Instead, it&#x27;s allocated by politicians.  This kind of debt therefore has the highest propensity to be sheer waste.