I don't think a lot of the money is even printed but is nothing more than some number stored in a computer. A lot of consumer debt is for purchases like clothes, furniture, electronic items which have no value at all. A lot of people don't even think there is much stigma associated with declaring bandrupcy --- they get to keep the things they believe bring them high status, they erase their debt and within a couple months, the offers of more credit come rolling in.
The difference that time is that all of the credit is then secured .... one bankruptcy every 7 years .... then you MUST pay up or they can take everything