we're talking about slightly different concepts. i'm referring to the federal reserve creating currency (which is a type of debt)--in theory, the fed was creat

we're talking about slightly different concepts. i'm referring to the federal reserve creating currency (which is a type of debt)--in theory, the fed was created to print precisely enough money to account for the value generated by our cumulative labor, so that we have that well-accepted paper medium to exchange with each other rather than having to barter for everything. you're talking about consumer debt, which still represents labor, but it's borrowed from others (or from the future). of course when you borrow to buy depreciating assets, that lowers your personal wealth (you're basically throwing away value). its interest that creates value from capital rather than labor, ostensibly as a reward for risk-taking, but also to account for the time value of money (and its cousin, inflation). this is why the wealthy care so much about interest rates.