I know this sounds boring and old-fashioned, but whether government debt is a good or a bad thing, would depend a lot on what it was doing with the money it bor

I know this sounds boring and old-fashioned, but whether government debt is a good or a bad thing, would depend a lot on what it was doing with the money it borrowed. If it spent it on repairing aging dams that were about to burst, bridges that needed repairs, and roads that have become unable to bear the traffic they are meant to, they could be a very wise decision. If they are used to build dams where none are needed, bridges to nowhere, and re-pave roads that are already fine, then they are not good. It is not so much the amount of debt that matters (for a sovereign state like the UK that is able to borrow in its own currency), but what the money (and thus the labor and real materials the money is used to purchase) is used to do.