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> I believe a ~$1.6 Trillion debt burden is a significant enough drag on the economy to be felt by everyone If you're implying that this debt should be cancel

by Aunche 5y ago

> I believe a ~$1.6 Trillion debt burden is a significant enough drag on the economy to be felt by everyone If you're implying that this debt should be cancelled, note that it doesn't go away if the President decides to cancel it. It just gets passed on to the broader tax base in the form of more national debt. The reason student loans are a problem for the US is that the government keeps on pumping money into higher education but has no incentives for them to control costs. Universities have fairly inelastic supply, so they can swallow up most the money the government pumps in. Cancelling student loans would just exacerbate this.

game_the0ry 5y ago
> If you're implying that this debt should be cancelled, note that it doesn't go away if the President decides to cancel it. It just gets passed on to the broader tax base in the form of more national debt. Student loans end up in the same place whether they are cancelled or the borrower can't pay back - unpaid and eventually written off.
mindslight 5y ago
Why does the massive regulatory giveaway to student loan lenders continue to be a given? Why does everything have to be some sort of top-down bailout? The straightforward approach is to extend bankruptcy protection to student loans, and let the courts sort out the mess based on need. Some bondholders will end up losing, but the risk of the regulatory giveaway disappearing should have been priced in to begin with.
- game_the0ry 5y ago
  > The straightforward approach is to extend bankruptcy protection to student loans, and let the courts sort out the mess out based on need. Agreed.
TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
Actually it does go away. A sovereign country can only go bankrupt when its currency stops being respected. Unless/until that happens, it can spend whatever it wants on its own people. A country that can afford trillions in tax cuts for the very rich, financial stimulus, and defence spending can easily afford a one-off loan jubilee. The real reasons this won't happen are political. Loans are a slaver's whip, and financial freedom is a horror that can't be tolerated for those who live below decks and need to be available to work on demand.
- rootusrootus 5y ago
  > Loans are a slaver's whip, and financial freedom is a horror that can't be tolerated for those who live below decks and need to be available to work on demand. The joke here is believing that college graduates are the slaves. What about the 2/3 of the population who have no degree and will earn significantly less through their life, who struggle from paycheck to paycheck and can't even look forward to eventually paying off a student loan?
- seneca 5y ago
  > The real reasons this won't happen are political. Loans are a slaver's whip, and financial freedom is a horror that can't be tolerated for those who live below decks and need to be available to work on demand. Comparing degree-holders who willingly took on loans to slaves, and with such wildly inflammatory rhetoric, is absurdly (and typically) out of touch. Degree holders are the managerial class. It is essentially a prerequisite to be part of the elite class. Those below the decks in our society are those who never had a chance at higher education. The exact same people who would be paying more taxes to pay for a hand out to the professional class if loans were forgiven.
  - ClumsyPilot 5y ago
    "Comparing degree-holders who willingly took on loans to slaves, and with such wildly inflammatory rhetoric, is absurdly (and typically) out of touch." I wonder who is out of touch. "besides being able to borrow on personal security, an individual might sell himself or a family member into slavery...Slavery was the standard penalty for failure to pay off a debt" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voluntary_slavery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voluntary_slavery
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
- gruez 5y ago
  The parent's point stands. If you print money, you get inflation. That just turns into a tax for everyone that holds cash. Inflation also raises interest rates, which is a tax on people directly (ie. the amount they pay to banks) and indirectly (the interest government borrows at).

by Aunche 5y ago

game_the0ry 5y ago

> If you're implying that this debt should be cancelled, note that it doesn't go away if the President decides to cancel it. It just gets passed on to the broader tax base in the form of more national debt. Student loans end up in the same place whether they are cancelled or the borrower can't pay back - unpaid and eventually written off.

mindslight 5y ago

Why does the massive regulatory giveaway to student loan lenders continue to be a given? Why does everything have to be some sort of top-down bailout? The straightforward approach is to extend bankruptcy protection to student loans, and let the courts sort out the mess based on need. Some bondholders will end up losing, but the risk of the regulatory giveaway disappearing should have been priced in to begin with.

game_the0ry 5y ago
> The straightforward approach is to extend bankruptcy protection to student loans, and let the courts sort out the mess out based on need. Agreed.

TheOtherHobbes 5y ago

Actually it does go away. A sovereign country can only go bankrupt when its currency stops being respected. Unless/until that happens, it can spend whatever it wants on its own people. A country that can afford trillions in tax cuts for the very rich, financial stimulus, and defence spending can easily afford a one-off loan jubilee. The real reasons this won't happen are political. Loans are a slaver's whip, and financial freedom is a horror that can't be tolerated for those who live below decks and need to be available to work on demand.

rootusrootus 5y ago
> Loans are a slaver's whip, and financial freedom is a horror that can't be tolerated for those who live below decks and need to be available to work on demand. The joke here is believing that college graduates are the slaves. What about the 2/3 of the population who have no degree and will earn significantly less through their life, who struggle from paycheck to paycheck and can't even look forward to eventually paying off a student loan?
seneca 5y ago
> The real reasons this won't happen are political. Loans are a slaver's whip, and financial freedom is a horror that can't be tolerated for those who live below decks and need to be available to work on demand. Comparing degree-holders who willingly took on loans to slaves, and with such wildly inflammatory rhetoric, is absurdly (and typically) out of touch. Degree holders are the managerial class. It is essentially a prerequisite to be part of the elite class. Those below the decks in our society are those who never had a chance at higher education. The exact same people who would be paying more taxes to pay for a hand out to the professional class if loans were forgiven.
- ClumsyPilot 5y ago
  "Comparing degree-holders who willingly took on loans to slaves, and with such wildly inflammatory rhetoric, is absurdly (and typically) out of touch." I wonder who is out of touch. "besides being able to borrow on personal security, an individual might sell himself or a family member into slavery...Slavery was the standard penalty for failure to pay off a debt" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voluntary_slavery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voluntary_slavery
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
gruez 5y ago
The parent's point stands. If you print money, you get inflation. That just turns into a tax for everyone that holds cash. Inflation also raises interest rates, which is a tax on people directly (ie. the amount they pay to banks) and indirectly (the interest government borrows at).