Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Is Biden’s student debt cancellation a moral hazard?

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

As is well known, the Biden administration in the United States cancelled $10K worth of debt for lower-income students with loans in that country. The 'moral hazard' in this case, as posited by the American Enterprise Institute's Beth Akers, "we have basically sent a message to borrowers now that you won't necessarily be on the hook to repay all the money that you borrowed to pay for school." It's hard to find the moral hazard here, especially when similar loan forgiveness is a routine practice for corporate borrowers. Where Akers and Biden find common ground is in the idea of tying loan repayments to income (something that would have helped me a lot when I was just getting started). They may also, I think, find agreement on the spotlight this places on rapidly rising tuition fees in general, and the shrinking proportion of the higher education budget that is actually supported by government at any level (at least, in the English-speaking world). But on the core issue - whether government should support individuals to the degree it supports corporations - I feel there will be no consensus.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Apr 28, 2024 8:46 p.m.

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