{"id":10644,"date":"2018-12-18T12:25:59","date_gmt":"2018-12-18T20:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=10644"},"modified":"2018-12-18T12:25:59","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T20:25:59","slug":"time-for-a-jubilee-us-student-loan-debt-hits-record-1-46-trillion-funny-thats-more-than-gops-corporate-friendly-tax-giveaway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2018\/12\/18\/time-for-a-jubilee-us-student-loan-debt-hits-record-1-46-trillion-funny-thats-more-than-gops-corporate-friendly-tax-giveaway\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Time for a Jubilee!&#8217;: US Student Loan Debt Hits Record $1.46 Trillion. Funny, That&#8217;s More Than GOP&#8217;s Corporate-Friendly Tax Giveaway"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"field-wrapper-attribution\" class=\"field-wrapper content-container clearfix inline-fields\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-article-date field--type-datestamp field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\"><span class=\"pb-timestamp\"><span class=\"date-display-single\">December 17, 2018\u00a0<\/span><\/span>by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Common Dreams<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-subtitle field--type-text-long field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<div>\n<h4>Student debt has doubled since 2009, but economists argue that forgiving all of it\u2014that&#8217;s right, all of it\u2014is something the country needs and can clearly afford.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"field-wrapper-authors\" class=\"field-wrapper content-container clearfix inline-fields\">\n<div class=\"grouping-prefix\">by\u00a0<span class=\"pb-byline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/jon-queally-staff-writer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jon Queally, staff writer<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"shr_canvas2\" class=\"shareaholic-canvas shareaholic-ui shareaholic-resolved-canvas ng-scope\" data-app-id=\"6840204\" data-app-id-name=\"headline_above_content\" data-app=\"share_buttons\" data-title=\"'Time for a Jubilee!': US Student Loan Debt Hits Record $1.46 Trillion. Funny, That's More Than GOP's Corporate-Friendly Tax Giveaway\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2018\/12\/17\/time-jubilee-us-student-loan-debt-hits-record-146-trillion-funny-thats-more-gops\" data-summary=\"\">\n<div class=\"ng-scope shareaholic-share_buttons\" translate=\"no\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-container shareaholic-ui shareaholic-no-print shareaholic-flat shareaholic- shareaholic-block shareaholic-horizontal  shareaholic-mini\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-wrapper shareaholic-ui\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-animation-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-heading shareaholic-custom\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-heading-text ng-binding\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-button-container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-article-img field--type-image field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"caption-processed\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/cd_large\/public\/headlines\/student_loan_debt.jpg?itok=2b-pRNfd\" alt=\"\" width=\"955\" height=\"500\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-main-caption field--type-text-long field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<p><em>A new study explores the economic benefits of cancelling student debt. (Photo: Getty)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<div>\n<p>It&#8217;s been almost a year since the Republican Party and President Donald Trump\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2017\/12\/19\/house-and-senate-vote-heres-13-worst-things-trump-gop-tax-scam\">delivered their behemoth giveaway<\/a>\u00a0to the nation&#8217;s corporations and wealthiest individuals by passing a $1.5 trillion controversial tax bill that will ultimately\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2017\/09\/26\/trump-tax-hoax-would-blow-5-trillion-hole-budget-over-next-decade-analysis\">blow a $5 trillion hole<\/a>\u2014or larger\u2014in the nation&#8217;s budget.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday morning,\u00a0<em>Bloomberg<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2018-12-17\/u-s-student-loan-debt-sets-record-doubling-since-recession?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_content=business&amp;utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business\">reported<\/a>\u00a0that the amount of U.S. student loan debt has more than doubled since 2009 and now sits at a record $1.47 trillion.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s interesting. Those numbers are very similar in size.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, also on Monday morning,\u00a0<em>Forbes<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/zackfriedman\/2018\/12\/17\/betsy-devos-to-forgive-150-million-of-student-loans\/#59708e6f56b3\">noted<\/a>\u00a0how\u2014due to the fraudulent practices of for-profit colleges and under orders from a federal court\u2014the U.S. Department of Education will cancel $150 million in student loans, proving the federal government does, indeed, have the power to leverage its authority to correct an economic wrong.<\/p>\n<p>As good as it might be for those students who are having their debt cancelled, $150 million is just 0.01 percent of the nearly $1.5 trillion in overall student debt liability.<\/p>\n<p>While a majority loans are held by private institutions, Paul Della Guardia, economist at the Institute of International Finance, explained to\u00a0<em>Bloomberg<\/em>\u00a0that &#8220;over 90% of student loans are guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education.&#8221; When the next economic downturn hits or if &#8220;a recession causes a rise in youth unemployment and triggers mass defaults,&#8221; warned Della Guardia, &#8220;this contingent liability could prove burdensome for the U.S. government budget.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>So if it&#8217;s possible to forgive a small portion of the overall student debt\u2014and if the country can afford to give away $1.5 trillion in tax revenue, mostly to the wealthy and companies that don&#8217;t need it\u2014why not just forgive all of the outstanding U.S. student debt?<\/p>\n<p>Some economists think it&#8217;s a brilliant\u2014and practical\u2014idea. Earlier this year, a team economists published a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.levyinstitute.org\/pubs\/rpr_2_6.pdf\">paper<\/a>\u00a0(pdf) detailing the macroeconomics benefits of mass student debt cancellation.<\/p>\n<p>According to the paper, put out through the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, forgiving the more than $1.4 trillion in outstanding student loan debt held by approximately 44 million Americans would boost the nation&#8217;s gross national product anywhere from $86 billion to $108 billion annually for the first decade following the debt cancellation. &#8220;Getting rid of the debt,&#8221;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/story\/canceling-14-trillion-in-student-debt-could-have-major-benefits-for-the-economy-2018-02-07\">reported<\/a>\u00a0<em>MarketWatch<\/em>\u00a0at the time of the paper&#8217;s release, &#8220;would also lower the average unemployment rate by 0.22 to 0.36 percentage points over 10 years and could add between 1.2 million and 1.5 million jobs per year.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In February of 2018, economist Stephanie Kelton, a fellow at the Sanders Institute and one of the authors of that study,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GIo-5d4xBlQ\">sat down with Jane Sander<\/a>s, co-founder of the institute, to discuss why the cancelling all U.S. student debt is not only possible, by a viable and smart financial prescription.<\/p>\n<p>Watch:<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GIo-5d4xBlQ\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Correction: An earlier version of this piece miscalculated the amount of student debt cancelled by the Department of Education as a percentage of total student debt.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>December 17, 2018\u00a0by Common Dreams Student debt has doubled since 2009, but economists argue that forgiving all of it\u2014that&#8217;s right, all of it\u2014is something the country needs and can clearly afford. by\u00a0Jon Queally, staff writer A new study explores the economic benefits of cancelling student debt. (Photo: Getty) &nbsp; It&#8217;s&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2018\/12\/18\/time-for-a-jubilee-us-student-loan-debt-hits-record-1-46-trillion-funny-thats-more-than-gops-corporate-friendly-tax-giveaway\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10644"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10644"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10645,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10644\/revisions\/10645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}