Not all debt is created equal. There is a really crucial distinction here that the author doesn't mention. Debt to finance consumption is very different than

Not all debt is created equal. There is a really crucial distinction here that the author doesn't mention. Debt to finance consumption is very different than debt to finance production. The former narrows your volatility window permanently, but the latter only does so temporarily. Once you get past that, the window widens again and stays wider than it would have been without the debt. As long as the productive asset returns more than the cost of servicing the debt to acquire it, you win. Of course, that's a big if, but it happens regularly, and it's something that really needs to be taken into account when making these kinds of decisions.