Why Are Student Loans Such a Catastrophe?
Current Affairs2 Helmi 2022

Why Are Student Loans Such a Catastrophe?

Today Nathan is joined by Wall Street Journal reporter Josh Mitchell, author of The Debt Trap: How Student Loans Became a National Catastrophe. Under pressure from progressive Democrats, Joe Biden recently agreed to continue a pause on student loan payments. There has been a great deal of debate over whether Biden should consider canceling large amounts of student debt outright.

Mitchell has spent years studying every aspect of the student loan crisis. On this episode, he helps us better understand what the crisis is and how we got here. We discuss:

- What makes student loans a "catastrophe" to begin with, and why there needs to be some public policy solution

- The mountain of human misery beneath the statistics, what life is actually like for people who can't pay their debts

- Why Josh thinks the establishment of Sallie Mae was one of the most disastrous trainwrecks in the history of Congressional legislation

- How college financial advisers have misled students into thinking their degrees are more valuable than they actually are

- The cases of people with over a million dollars in student debt, or those so old their Social Security checks are being garnished to pay their student loans

- How much of the crisis was created by Wall Street greed versus well-intentioned but disastrous public policy

- Whether a solution is just to make public colleges free, like public high schools

Josh's Wall Street Journal article on borrowers who have crossed a million dollars in student debt is here. Read some Current Affairs coverage of student debt and the financing of higher education in these articles:

- Is Student Debt Cancellation Regressive? NO.

- Cancelling Student Debt Reduces The Racial Wealth Gap

- If You Want To Enact Free College, Cancel Student Debt Immediately

- The Taxonomy of Student Debt Arguments

- Student Debt Forgiveness: Let's Do Some Math

- How Student Debt Is Worsening Gender and Racial Injustice

- The Case for Free College

- What a Better Biden Would Say About Student Loan Debt

Jaksot(600)

The Left is Always Right Too Early

The Left is Always Right Too Early

🦩 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership  From slavery and child labor in the 19th century to the Iraq War and Gaza, the Left position has b...

25 Helmi 18min

Current Affairs News Briefing ❧ February 20, 2026

Current Affairs News Briefing ❧ February 20, 2026

A convoy to Cuba, Grok doxxes a sex worker,  Mamdani cuts the library, Pakistan has really fast jets, MGP declares war on sea lions, Andrew is arrested, and bugs are more popular than Trump. 📰 SUBSCR...

21 Helmi 7min

Abigail Thorn of Philosophy Tube on Parasocial Relationships

Abigail Thorn of Philosophy Tube on Parasocial Relationships

Abigail Thorn is an actor, writer, and the creator of the widely acclaimed YouTube channel Philosophy Tube, where she explores politics, culture, and philosophy through performance and storytelling. S...

6 Helmi 29min

Why Conservatives Hate the Government But Love the Cops

Why Conservatives Hate the Government But Love the Cops

🦩 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership The core right-wing principle is a belief in hierarchy, not the limitation of state power. 🐍 Read ...

4 Helmi 8min

How the Right Abuses Tolkien

How the Right Abuses Tolkien

🦩 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membershipFor Peter Thiel, JD Vance, and other figures on today’s far right, the works of J.R.R. Tolkien have ...

30 Tammi 28min

Current Affairs News Briefing ❧ January 28, 2026

Current Affairs News Briefing ❧ January 28, 2026

EPA to stop animal testing, Palestinians go on general strike, Ye apologizes for his Nazism again, TikTok claims apparent censorship was caused by a power outage, and the government repeals workplace ...

29 Tammi 4min

Ro Khanna: “Newsom Doesn’t Want to Offend the Donor Class”

Ro Khanna: “Newsom Doesn’t Want to Offend the Donor Class”

Ro Khanna is the U.S. representative for California’s 17th Congressional district, more commonly known as “Silicon Valley.” He was a co-chair of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign in 2020, and ther...

24 Tammi 40min

How Corporations Convinced America that Litter is Our Fault

How Corporations Convinced America that Litter is Our Fault

The "Keep America Beautiful" campaign urged Americans to pick up their trash—so that companies could keep producing it.🗑️ Read the full article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-sinister-origi...

23 Tammi 12min

Suosittua kategoriassa Komedia

nikotellen
anni-jaajo
tuplakaak
antin-matka
olipa-kerran-otsikko
ihan-oikeesti
rss-saarinen-shoy
antin-palautepalvelu
puurojengi
antin-elokuvakerho
everypodi
rss-kaheli
kasper-ja-mikko-suomen-suosituin-podcast
naakkavalta
rss-nikotellen
ela-viitti
rss-kuukka-vehvilainen-hartlin
rss-ruokacast
mysteeripodcast
rss-sami-jorma