Two authors have provided an alternative take on the whole 'debt mountain' concept currently doing the rounds by suggesting that owing money is basically....ok.

Writing on the BBC website, Michael Blastland and Andrew Dilnot argue that the amount of money owed by Britons will naturally increase in line with economic expansion, and that increased debt is just a sign of 'the good times'.

"Rising debts are an indication of rising ability to borrow, resulting from rising wealth," the authors suggest in their article, while adding that they don't mean to offend those who are really struggling.

As theories go it's an interesting one - certainly the rise in the number of bad credit mortgages being taken out suggests that the economy is finding a way to accommodate those with greater levels of debt.

And as debt becomes more acceptable - though 2.5 million still say they're concerned about it - maybe more people will become convinced of the authors' theory - things aren't so bad after all.

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