I've actually been coming around to this view after thinking it was naive for a long time. Lending is incredibly useful, but sensitive to accurate predictions.

I've actually been coming around to this view after thinking it was naive for a long time. Lending is incredibly useful, but sensitive to accurate predictions. If I get a 30 year mortgage, I'm betting that my salary can cover the payments for 30 years or else I can at least sell and recover my debt. If my life doesn't go as planned, I can end up screwed. This gets us into trouble when life happens. Prices increase because of available credit so most people have to play the game, then something big happens. It can make the whole system collapse unless you bail out people who made bad bets. That pisses off the people who didn't overextend themselves for good reason. Debt can be great, but it makes the system brittle and incentivizes weird instances of bailing out people who fucked up, not because they deserve to be bailed, but because the system will collapse otherwise. Let's not pretend its benefits don't come with drawbacks, like what's discussed in OP, or what happened in 2008.