With debt it depends who the debt is owed to. US owes a lot to other govts. Greece owed it to bond buying private firms. China's debt is owed by the people a

With debt it depends who the debt is owed to. US owes a lot to other govts. Greece owed it to bond buying private firms. China's debt is owed by the people and local corporations to the local bank. And debt is typically a problem when recession strikes.