I value what my dad thinks about things like romance and politics, but I avoid talking to him about education. The university of his memory is generous and forgiving; the student-debt-financial complex of my current experience is not. Example: he could've discharged his education debt in bankruptcy if things didn't work out after he graduated in 1970. Should my career fail, student loans and I will continue to be quite monogamous.
Getting a bankruptcy court to erase student debt is an extremely difficult, expensive and time-consuming legal maneuver.
Seventy years ago, when leaders like James Conant were pushing for a meritocratic education system, they argued that narrow and entrenched privilege was the enemy of prosperity. Why? Because it gave the best opportunities to unexceptional rich WASPs while leaving America's best human capital off the table. Empowering such a small slice of the population also limited the growth of a strong middle and upper middle class.
Demos has released a new report that highlights the broader impact of student debt. Comparing a household with student loans against one without, the report reveals that student debt permanently impedes upward mobility for millions of Americans struggling to repay their loans.
It's still a given that a college education means bigger paychecks over a person's lifetime. But as people take on ever greater amounts of student debt to fund school, the wealth they accumulate over their lifetimes is drastically less than people who didn't have to borrow.
A student who takes out $53,000 in debt, the average amount for those attending a four-year public university, will experience a a lifetime loss of wealth totaling $208,000, according to a new report from the think tank Demos. It dives into the long-term costs of rising student debt and finds that for those who carry the $1 trillion in total student debt, their lifetime wealth loss will equal $4 trillion.
Following last week’s report showing that Ohio students who graduate with student loans hold an average debt of nearly $30,000, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) will outline a plan that would help Americans saddled with costly, private student loans refinance to more affordable options. During a news conference call today, Brown discussed how his bill would help individuals reduce their student loan debt by refinancing at no cost to taxpayers.
It's time for the real estate industry -- one of the true 900-pound gorillas in U.S. politics -- to join the battle to reduce student debt burdens. Why? Because the bread-and-butter of that industry, young people who buy new homes, is increasingly threatened by soaring college loans which leaves these potential customers too maxed out to join the "ownership society."
Yesterday, Jared Bernstein and Dean Baker wrote about the new changes in how the Bureau of Economic Affairs calculates GDP. In short, as Bernstein and Baker explain:
The next big campaign finance case to go before the Supreme Court began in February 2012 in the grand ballroom at the Marriott Wardman Park hotel during the "Ronald Reagan Banquet" at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Fast food workers in Detroit and Flint, Mich. participated in the week of rolling fast food strikeson Wednesday, the third straight day of labor activism in what now appears to be the largest industrial action in the industry’s history.
Jeffrey Toobin is up with a piece today, “Another Citizens United – But Worse,” about the Supreme Court’s next money in politics case. In McCutcheon v. FEC, slated for oral argument in October, appellants challenge contribution limits on the total amount of money one individual can transfer in direct contributions.
Our personal information is compiled, traded, analyzed and sold off as never before. Not only do business and government track us online, but retailers trace our cell phones through stores, and vast, little-known databases can keep us from getting jobs, qualifying for loans, and opening bank accounts.
The next big campaign finance case to go before the Supreme Court began in February 2012 in the grand ballroom at the Marriott Wardman Park hotel during the "Ronald Reagan Banquet" at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
On July 24, President Obama delivered a speech in Galesburg, IL, to lay out his vision for an economy that works for everyone and what he hopes to do to get us there. During his speech, he acknowledged that gridlock in Washington will likely prevent Congress from providing sensible solutions, but he said, “Whatever executive authority I have to help the middle class, I’ll use it." I hope the President keeps his word because he has the power to lift two million working Americans out of poverty. He just has to choose to use it. I work at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.
After the D.C. Council approved a bill that requires large retailers to pay their workers a "living wage" of $12.50 -- and Walmart retreated from the capital in protest -- we thought it'd be worth considering what that requirement could do for the economy.
A longstanding rap against Barack Obama, going back to his Senate years, is that he confuses making speeches with making change. Of course, though, moving the public is often a crucial pre-condition for moving a policy agenda. And speeches can help do that.
Much like the back catalog of our favorite bands, the Obama administration has a collection of policy proposals that have never gotten much attention, much less become legislative greatest hits. As he embarks on a series of economic speeches over the next few months, Obama would do well to examine his own policy back catalog.
Picking a new chairman of the Federal Reserve may be the most important nomination a president can make. The next Fed chair will play an instrumental role in determining the future trajectory of America’s straggling recovery, and determining how financial regulation gets implemented.
