The professor fails to make a case that debt is a frightening concern. While corporate debt has risen, one big reasons--share buy-back--and the fact that overall, business has significant cash reserves, it's more a good news/bad news scenario.  Meanwhile...

"The rapid growth of household debt is of much greater concern since borrowing is concentrated among younger households taking on large mortgages as well as student and credit-card debt, while the level of net debt is low among many older and more affluent households. Further, the largest chunk of household assets, housing, is not very liquid."

Well, amount aside, hasn't this always been the case?  30s-something households buying up tons of consumer goods partly because there are two little kids to house, feed, clothe and entertain. What's new? Large mortgages?  Mine seemed pretty large in 1980, too.  My parents had virtually no debt a few years later. Now that we're retired seniors, gee, my wife and I have no debt, either.