On The Call To Forgive Student Loans …

There’s been a lot of chatter in recent months about so-called forgiveness of student loans. I’ve seen it as a significant thread on the OWS movement. And I also see calls for it on Facebook.
From what I can tell simply erasing the debt of student loans would amount to no more than theft. And it’s more than a bit ironic that many of those demanding student loan forgiveness also decried (quite rightly) the bailout of banks and other entities. It reminds me of this quote.

“I either want less corruption, or more chance to participate in it.”
– Ashleigh Brilliant

In effect, this is what those calling for their debt to be wiped-out are saying.
If student loans are forgiven, they just don’t disappear with no one hurt. The lenders are left holding the bag. Not only is that bad economic policy I also find it highly immoral. It also seems particularly unfair to those who have worked hard to pay-off their student debt.

“In 100 years we have gone from teaching Latin and Greek in high school to teaching Remedial English in college.”
-– Joseph Sobran

This is not to say that there is not a student debt problem, I believe there is. But this won’t fix it, just mask the symptoms very temporarily. It might be akin to dealing with high temperatures by putting masking tape over the thermometer display. Decades of govt. subsidies in many forms have driven college costs to the ridiculous levels we see today. Add to that the fact that a 19 year-old thinks nothing of spending $50,000/year on a functionally useless degree, and we have the mess we see today.
Watch this good video from Prof. Coyne, only 65s of your day.

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