Elizabeth Warren Is Right About Student Debt Relief
The government missed an opportunity to modify mortgages during the housing crisis. It shouldn’t repeat its mistake.
Elizabeth Warren calls student debt an anchor on the economy.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/BloombergI was one of those college graduates who had difficulty paying off his student loans. It was a long time ago, of course, and the world was a different place. I borrowed directly from a local bank (I can’t recall if the federal government backed the loan). The total amount seems laughably small now: $5,000 or so, paid in installments of about $50 a month.
Then again, $5,000 in 1974, when I graduated, would be $26,000 in today’s dollars. And in any case, since my first few jobs paid little, it was a struggle to come up with that $50. I often slipped three or four months behind, at which point the bank would threaten to send my loan to a collection agency. I would then scramble to find a little money somewhere and get the bank off my back. Until I fell behind again.