(I'm not the GP but I think there's a fair reason why someone would feel differently about loan forgiveness than other subsidies) Normally a subsidy is establi

(I'm not the GP but I think there's a fair reason why someone would feel differently about loan forgiveness than other subsidies) Normally a subsidy is established in advance to incentivize some behaviour, like... manufacturing solar panels or something. A retroactive payment to only specific indebted solar panel manufacturers is called a bailout and does not have that effect, unless it was widely anticipated. It distorts the competitive landscape because it gives them a leg up over competing manufacturers who held back on investments that they would have made if they'd known the debt would be forgiven, and over new companies who are about to take loans to invest in their own factories, who now have to compete against fully-amortized equipment. So in other words, it's not really a proper subsidy unless it's also available to new students going forward. But due to the weirdness of the education market, that would probably require some form of tuition price controls too.