Households Earning $300k+ a Year Are Biggest Beneficiaries of New Student Debt ‘Cancellation’ Plan, Penn Wharton Study Finds

in #economics6 months ago


Despite those letters sent to debt relief recipients that read, “Congratulations! The Biden-Harris Administration has forgiven your federal student loan(s),” loan forgiveness is not an act of charity. Nor is it sound policy.

Source: Households Earning $300k+ a Year Are Biggest Beneficiaries of New Student Debt 'Cancellation' Plan, Penn Wharton Study Finds - FEE

I argue that I had to pay off my student loan debt so I shouldn't have to pay off yours too. Some people snap back with what they must believe to be the moral high ground by saying they paid off their debt too but still support loan forgiveness so today's students don't have to go through the same thing. Well, I've got news for you. There's nothing moral about stealing from some to give to others.

Seriously though, student loans aren't a mystery. Neither are expected salaries for given career fields. It isn't a complicated equation. If you are spending $300K for an art history or gender studies degree, what exactly are you expecting? Some degrees are worth their cost and some are not. Some schools are worth their cost and some are not. There is a simple cost/benefit analysis to be made.

Also, it's not as if the government is running a surplus. They have MASSIVE debt. Billions in student load forgiveness only increases that debt and debt is just future taxes. Also, you know how inflation has been pretty awful lately? Well, massive government spending (well beyond what it is collecting) is a major contributor to that. Student loan forgiveness will only increase that inflationary pressure.

To top it all off is the point that this article makes. The households that benefit most from this student loan forgiveness are ones that would already be considered well off (at least I consider those that are making $300K/year to be well off). I wonder how many households with much lower incomes will be left holding the bag?