> While incurring debt in order to make money is a reasonable thing to do (“You’ve got to spend money to make money”), there is no such thing as “good debt.”

That's not true. Debt is in a way a hedge against inflation (provided you're not paying credit card rate inflation).

I recommend "Broken Money" by Lyn Adlen. How she covers the history money, as well as how it relates to the US financial system is fascinating, enlightening, and in the end disheartening.

https://www.lynalden.com/broken-money/

I'm not sure I agree with step one in an absolute sense like they put it. In general sense yes it's a very good idea, but if you have an interest rate that's less than inflation and other ways to make money that is more than inflation often times it's better to keep the debt. This kind of thing is usually only available to those who've acquired some sort of financial security. If you can do this this allows you to borrow money and then a repay less money in the future.