Not many subjects are not only so misunderstood but filled with so many emotional, and often contradictory, explanations.  A good posting from Collaborative Fund on how this all really works.  On a related note, it does matter what you go into debt for.  Taking out a loan to buy a long term asset like a house is much, much different from, say, taking out a loan because you lost big in Vegas.

Who Pays For This?