An article in the FT shares examples of businesses that have not benefited from the recent economic expansion and at the same time took out loans; companies with poor credit ratings took out $564 billion in commercial loans in 2017 which beat out a record set before the financial crisis; these loans are funded by private equity firms and other types of asset managers; the article notes that loan quality may be deteriorating as more capital enters the space and lenders look to make riskier loans. Source