PUBLICATION - The household balance sheet-Too much debt? By Francois Velde, senior economist, September (Special Issue) 2002. Are U.S. households carrying too much debt? Debt levels have grown recently to unprecedented levels. But that is nothing new, as debt has long been following an upward trend. Rising debt can be a good thing, signaling improved access to credit. For aggregates, what matters is net worth. That has risen in the late 1990s and fallen recently, but consumption had not kept up