Left wing politicians and liberal activists continue to push for blanket student loan forgiveness. Their sunny promises don’t tell the truth.
Bailing out student loan borrowers will do more to help wealthy students who attend pricey private colleges than it will to provide relief to low-income students who hold a disproportionately smaller amount of federal student loan debt.
But don’t just take our word for it, here’s what others are saying:
"This [student loan forgiveness] is the worst macro policy I've ever heard of…"
Source: Justin Wolfers, Professor of Public Policy and Economics, December 6, 2020
"While it is nice to make topical arguments, if we are being honest about things, student debt forgiveness is possibly the least effective stimulus imaginable on a dollar-for-dollar basis…"
Source: Matt Bruenig, President of People’s Policy Project, November 16, 2020
"A blanket forgiveness of student debt would be a Brahmin bailout, delivering economic benefits to the upper class while doing nothing for the trucker in Toledo, Ohio, or the Waffle House waitress in Atlanta. It would increase divisions between the college-educated and the rest of the country without reforming the student lending system or bloated universities that created the debt problem."
Source: Zaid Jilani, Journalist, November 29, 2020
"My reasons for opposing student loan forgiveness are not a secret. I've written at length on this page about the fundamental unfairness of doing such a thing—especially to the millions of Americans who have paid their college debts, and sacrificed much to do so…"
Source: Mike Rowe, TV Show Host and Writer, December 16, 2020
"Those who chose to attend cheaper colleges will realize they left free money on the table, compared to those who disregarded such concerns and borrowed big. Those who waitressed during college, worked nights, started out at community college, or scrimped and saved in order to minimize their borrowing wind up feeling like suckers. Those who hustled to repay their loans wind up feeling like chumps."
"But progressives should curb their enthusiasm because untargeted loan forgiveness could in fact harm the very people they purport to champion: the most disadvantaged Americans, including children growing up in poverty."
Source: Michael Petrilli, President, Thomas B. Fordham Institute, February 8, 2021
"Lots of poor people are still Democrats, but they aren’t a major source of power within the party—the bureaucrats claiming to speak for them are. And that’s who Democrats are prioritizing."
Source: Jonah Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief, The Dispatch, November 23, 2020
"Progressives often portray themselves as fighting against attempts by the rich and powerful to hijack public policy to enrich themselves at taxpayers’ expense. So why, in the name of fighting for the oppressed, are they trying to send well-compensated dentists, doctors, and lawyers six-figure checks?"
Source: Richard Vedder, Professor of Economics at Ohio University, Tom Lindsay, Scholar at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and Andrew Gillen, Scholar at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, January 23, 2021
"The big losers are future students, who will see tuition spike yet again, working-class Americans who suddenly find themselves stuck paying for other people to go to college, and taxpayers in general who will be—as always—left holding the bag."
Source: Antony Davies, Associate Professor of Economics at Duquesne University, and James R. Harrigan, Managing Director, Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, January 28, 2021
"Each dollar spent on loan relief is a dollar raised in taxes, and far less than half of taxpayers have a four-year degree. Student-loan cancellation would bleed the working class to alleviate debt for those with more-lucrative career options."
Source: Beth Akers, Resident Scholar at AEI, November 22, 2020
