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Student Loans. Medical Debt. Criminal Justice Fees. Cancel It All.

nytimes.com

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Re: Student Loans. Medical Debt. Criminal Justice Fees. Cancel It All.

#3
The linked article doesn't even attempt to explain how such a plan would work, or could feasibly work. But it does link to at least one more thorough source[1] that tries to rationalize the economics. I'm still not sure I understand how such a plan overcomes the obvious objections, but that source is a bit better.

[1] https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/its-time-for...

Re: Student Loans. Medical Debt. Criminal Justice Fees. Cancel It All.

#5
The political problem is there’s no constituency or patronage group here. Speaking again just from a political perspective, this is flushing money down the toilet. You’re helping everyone horizontally, not some group that will help you get re-elected or build up political capital you can use later.

As opposed to something like canceling student debt which is a more obvious patronage play for Democrats- college grads vote Dem and people with student debt skew younger (more Dems). Debt as a general category is too diffuse.

To be clear I’m not opposed but there’s not gonna be a political will to make it happen.

Re: Student Loans. Medical Debt. Criminal Justice Fees. Cancel It All.

#8

Cancelling student debt won't solve the student debt problem, unless we stop giving out student loans.

Its worse than that, its a lottery. Those graduates who have already paid off their debt, lose. Those soon-to-be students who have to pay high tuition, also lose.

Indeed, since colleges will see loan forgiveness as an option, tuitions will rise.

Re: Student Loans. Medical Debt. Criminal Justice Fees. Cancel It All.

#9
> Historians sometimes refer to it as “jubilee,” a term used for household debt forgiveness decrees in ancient Israel that were similar to debt forgiveness in ancient Egypt, Babylon, and elsewhere. The widespread existence of this type of debt forgiveness in antiquity profoundly attests to the universality and persistence of this debt accumulation issue.

It's important to note that Jubilee was not at all the same as "debt forgiveness" or "restructuring". It came in regular intervals and people knew when the next Jubilee was going to be when they entered the loan. This significantly changes the types of loans even offered.

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