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The thing that would be great for economists to figure out is effective reform legislation for higher education to avoid building up a student debt bubble again

The thing that would be great for economists to figure out is effective reform legislation for higher education to avoid building up a student debt bubble again.

akomtu 4y ago
WH doesn't want a reform. It gives a one-time handout right before the elections. It's a bribe, basically.
- sokoloff 4y ago
  This seems like it’s a handout to people already likely to vote D, though. It seems likely to push away more incremental blue collar workers than to attract new college debt holders.
  - BobbyJo 4y ago
    The people this helps were likely to vote D, if they were to vote. Which they mostly don't actually do. This will likely motivate some of them, at least.
    - Jcowell 4y ago
      It’s pretty damn smart honestly. I wonder, given this works and Dems no longer having to be beholden to two senators blocking bills that the majority of democratic voters want, we’ll see rapid legalization being passed that was not possible for the past two years.
  - bandyaboot 4y ago
    It’s less about changing minds than it is about driving turnout. The party in power typically has turnout problems in midterms.
  - jonstewart 4y ago
    The stereotype is to think of, say, a Yale Philosophy grad with an enormous amount of debt and a useless degree (NB: I don't think a Phil degree is useless). The reality is that a ton of people have education debt from community and vocational colleges, for degrees and certifications that allowed them to get higher paying jobs, but not necessarily _high_-paying jobs, i.e., they're still working class jobs. For example, a lot of daycares require staff to have a Child Development Associate degree. Forgiveness will be a tremendous boon to a huge swath of such workers.
    - lapcat 4y ago
      > The stereotype is to think of, say, a Yale Philosophy grad with an enormous amount of debt and a useless degree (NB: I don't think a Phil degree is useless). I find it (morbidly) amusing that many people in STEM say "We need more people studying ethics", yet the people who actually did study and teach ethics are considered to have made a "poor choice" and deserve no sympathy from society.
- lghh 4y ago
  The changes on income based repayment and interest are huge and will certainly make a large difference in the amount of debt college students carry going forward. It doesn’t change the up front coat of college in any way, but it’s not a one-time handout.
- enraged_camel 4y ago
  This hardly came out of low here. It was a campaign promise.
- throwaway5959 4y ago
  You want to see a bribe, check out the 2017 Tax cut and jobs act.
zaroth 4y ago
We need a method for allocation of scarce resources. If it’s not money, it’s either a random lottery, or it’s based on some allocation function like a performance assessment. I would not expect to see allocation of government funded admission slots to top private colleges based [solely] on performance-based assessments, because it’s too much equality and not enough equity. That’s not to say it wouldn’t be a brilliant idea to let kids earn free slots into college. The last time we did it though, they had to earn those slots in Vietnam.

The thing that would be great for economists to figure out is effective reform legislation for higher education to avoid building up a student debt bubble again.

akomtu 4y ago

WH doesn't want a reform. It gives a one-time handout right before the elections. It's a bribe, basically.

sokoloff 4y ago
This seems like it’s a handout to people already likely to vote D, though. It seems likely to push away more incremental blue collar workers than to attract new college debt holders.
- BobbyJo 4y ago
  The people this helps were likely to vote D, if they were to vote. Which they mostly don't actually do. This will likely motivate some of them, at least.
  - Jcowell 4y ago
    It’s pretty damn smart honestly. I wonder, given this works and Dems no longer having to be beholden to two senators blocking bills that the majority of democratic voters want, we’ll see rapid legalization being passed that was not possible for the past two years.
- bandyaboot 4y ago
  It’s less about changing minds than it is about driving turnout. The party in power typically has turnout problems in midterms.
- jonstewart 4y ago
  The stereotype is to think of, say, a Yale Philosophy grad with an enormous amount of debt and a useless degree (NB: I don't think a Phil degree is useless). The reality is that a ton of people have education debt from community and vocational colleges, for degrees and certifications that allowed them to get higher paying jobs, but not necessarily _high_-paying jobs, i.e., they're still working class jobs. For example, a lot of daycares require staff to have a Child Development Associate degree. Forgiveness will be a tremendous boon to a huge swath of such workers.
  - lapcat 4y ago
    > The stereotype is to think of, say, a Yale Philosophy grad with an enormous amount of debt and a useless degree (NB: I don't think a Phil degree is useless). I find it (morbidly) amusing that many people in STEM say "We need more people studying ethics", yet the people who actually did study and teach ethics are considered to have made a "poor choice" and deserve no sympathy from society.
lghh 4y ago
The changes on income based repayment and interest are huge and will certainly make a large difference in the amount of debt college students carry going forward. It doesn’t change the up front coat of college in any way, but it’s not a one-time handout.
enraged_camel 4y ago
This hardly came out of low here. It was a campaign promise.
throwaway5959 4y ago
You want to see a bribe, check out the 2017 Tax cut and jobs act.

zaroth 4y ago

We need a method for allocation of scarce resources. If it’s not money, it’s either a random lottery, or it’s based on some allocation function like a performance assessment. I would not expect to see allocation of government funded admission slots to top private colleges based [solely] on performance-based assessments, because it’s too much equality and not enough equity. That’s not to say it wouldn’t be a brilliant idea to let kids earn free slots into college. The last time we did it though, they had to earn those slots in Vietnam.