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Another unintended consequence I could see is this could be a lead up to a debt crisis by the US government. Right now we are running 1 trillion budget deficits

Another unintended consequence I could see is this could be a lead up to a debt crisis by the US government. Right now we are running 1 trillion budget deficits. If people can start discharging student loans then that will be a loss of revenue for the federal government so unless there is an equal amount of budget cuts then this will most likely result in the budget deficit increasing. If creditors get worried it could spook the debt markets. US debt won't be viewed as "safest" in the world....then starts the chain reaction series of events. I also like to think back to what Peter Thiel says about higher education. It could be something similar to the 2008 housing crisis....where people were borrowing money to buy overvalued housing. Higher education to a certain extent could be people are borrowing large sums of money to get degrees that don't hold much value in the market place....so it becomes impossible for these people to ever repay the loans....overvalued assets and leverage spells bubble. I know people who borrowed 100k+ to get a degree in sociology only to realize after the fact that sociology is a worthless major. They then went back to spend another 100k to get a degree in nursing to finally become gainfully employed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crAHDXdBCXg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crAHDXdBCXg

simonh 7y ago
>I know people who borrowed 100k+ to get a degree in sociology only to realize after the fact that sociology is a worthless major. And that decision is made when they are legally children, and they're bound to it for the rest of their lives.
- blaser-waffle 7y ago
  You're not usually obligated to choose a major until you're 2+ years in. By then you're probably 20 years old. Hell, most Uni students are 18, which means they're a legal adult. Most of them have been driving cars and fucking for years before then -- why wouldn't they be able to make choices about a career?
  - Kye 7y ago
    They make equally misinformed decisions about sex and driving.
    - Kaiyou 7y ago
      I don't expect them to make any better decisions years later. Unless given the opportunity, how are you supposed to grow up?
- JamalW 7y ago
  Well if Trump get’s elected again then at least they will have jobs and be able to pay off their debt
Nasrudith 7y ago
Despite the defecit hawk rhetoric it isn't the actual finances that damaged the credit worthiness. It was the GOP and their sheer sociopathic brinkmanship to make the debt ceiling a regular event to try to force their pet issues that harmed the credit rating. There is a reason why debt in nations is always mentioned as a percentage and not a raw number - the raw number is meaningless.
RockIslandLine 7y ago
Revenue is an obsolete concept at the Federal level. Currency issuers are not dependent on taxes to fund spending. Taxes have other roles, like controlling inflation. All currency issuers can always pay any debt denominated in their native currency. Whether higher education is producing a quality product at a fair price is a completely different discussion. Whether the degrees being produced align with the workforce needs is yet another different discussion. Whether jobs actually require the degrees that employers specify is yet another different discussion.

simonh 7y ago

>I know people who borrowed 100k+ to get a degree in sociology only to realize after the fact that sociology is a worthless major. And that decision is made when they are legally children, and they're bound to it for the rest of their lives.

blaser-waffle 7y ago
You're not usually obligated to choose a major until you're 2+ years in. By then you're probably 20 years old. Hell, most Uni students are 18, which means they're a legal adult. Most of them have been driving cars and fucking for years before then -- why wouldn't they be able to make choices about a career?
- Kye 7y ago
  They make equally misinformed decisions about sex and driving.
  - Kaiyou 7y ago
    I don't expect them to make any better decisions years later. Unless given the opportunity, how are you supposed to grow up?
JamalW 7y ago
Well if Trump get’s elected again then at least they will have jobs and be able to pay off their debt

Nasrudith 7y ago

Despite the defecit hawk rhetoric it isn't the actual finances that damaged the credit worthiness. It was the GOP and their sheer sociopathic brinkmanship to make the debt ceiling a regular event to try to force their pet issues that harmed the credit rating. There is a reason why debt in nations is always mentioned as a percentage and not a raw number - the raw number is meaningless.

RockIslandLine 7y ago

Revenue is an obsolete concept at the Federal level. Currency issuers are not dependent on taxes to fund spending. Taxes have other roles, like controlling inflation. All currency issuers can always pay any debt denominated in their native currency. Whether higher education is producing a quality product at a fair price is a completely different discussion. Whether the degrees being produced align with the workforce needs is yet another different discussion. Whether jobs actually require the degrees that employers specify is yet another different discussion.