[tfehring]

The fastest-growing (and largest) category of that debt was mortgage debt, which is probably a positive economic indicator if anything, though note that that's based on Q1 data. Household debt servicing costs as a percent of disposable income are still lower than at any point between 1980 (the earliest data available) and the start of the pandemic. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TDSP

Also keep in mind that those debt figures are in nominal USD. One positive effect of inflation is that it reduces the real cost of paying off debt.

[mym1990]

Is this a positive effect? I think it is for lower inflation rates, but above a certain threshold the borrowing can get out of hand, people will go and get more loans, which will drive prices higher. Eventually the bubble pops and people go underwater.