Thus, it's hard to see how it's possible for the world as a whole to "borrow" from the future in any meaningful sense. How much you tax vs. how much debt you run up does matter, but not in the same way people think.
Guess who will be paying for that? Future consumers and taxpayers.
Not all debt leads to this. Debt which is incurred responsibly and paid off in a timely fashion promotes growth. But there are examples (Greece is one) where debt is used by those in power to sustain their own power structure rather than dealing with economic problems under their watch. To the extent that economic changes negatively affect the ruling elite, those in power will avoid making those changes. If those changes happen to be necessary to preserve future economic stability, then it will be future generations who pay for it.
In 2008-2009, there was an opportunity to take apart big banks after their gross misallocation of capital. Instead those very banks and bankers were fortified and rewarded to continue onwards.
I still haven't figured out how this phase will end.