Why canceling student debt makes great economic sense (with Fenaba Addo)

Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

Civic Ventures

Business, Government, News, Politics

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 7 February 2023

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When the Biden Administration announced last year that they would forgive up to $20,000 student loan debt per individual, millions of people celebrated—and for good reason. The student loan debt that Americans carry has ballooned to $1.8 trillion in recent decades, threatening the economic security of American households from coast to coast and up and down the income scale. Unfortunately, the Biden forgiveness plan has been tied up in several lawsuits, and the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for these lawsuits at the end of February, with a final decision expected later this spring. As the conversation over student loans heats back up, we’re revisiting our conversation with Associate Professor Fenaba Addo. Addo helps us explore the merits and shortcomings of student debt cancellation, and explains why canceling student debt would actually be good for the economy. You’ll also hear from Pitchfork listeners who share how student loan forgiveness would change their lives. This episode originally aired on December 22, 2020. Fenaba Addo is an Associate Professor of Public Policy at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She specializes in debt and racial wealth inequality. Her first book, A Dream Defaulted: The Student Loan Crisis Among Black Borrowers, is available now by Harvard Education Press. Twitter: @FenabaAddo The Biden-Harris Administration’s Student Debt Relief Plan Explained https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement Is Student Debt Forgiveness Still Going to Happen? https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/student-loans/debt-relief-lawsuits-qa Forget fairness: Canceling all student debt makes great economic sense for America — here's why https://www.businessinsider.com/why-canceling-student-debt-makes-great-economic-sense-for-america-2020-12 Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Twitter: @PitchforkEcon Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Nick’s twitter: @NickHanauer

Transcript

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0:00.0	Student debt is a $1.8 trillion issue that affects millions of Americans.
0:05.6	So naturally, when the Biden administration announced last year that they would be forgiving up to
0:10.9	$20,000 per person of student debt, it was really promising news. Unsurprisingly, the usual suspect
0:19.6	sued. And so, at least for the moment, student loan forgiveness has been blocked in the courts.
0:25.7	The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for these lawsuits, I think, end of February,
0:30.3	with a final decision expected in a couple months. So before that happens, we thought we'd revisit
0:36.3	an episode we released in December 2020 with Fenaba Auto. Her title has changed since we last
0:42.9	spoke to her. Fenaba is now an associate professor of public policy at the University of North Carolina
0:49.5	Chapel Hill. She specializes in debt and racial wealth inequality, and her first book,
0:56.1	A Dream Defaulted, The Student Loan Crisis Among Black Barrowers, is available now by Harvard
1:02.8	Education Press. In this episode, Fenaba helps us explore the merits and shortcomings of student
1:09.9	debt cancellation, including why canceling student debt would actually be good for the economy.
1:17.0	You'll also hear from pitchfork listeners who share how student loan forgiveness would change their
1:23.2	lives. Today, we get to talk about this student debt crisis in the 1.7 trillion in college loans,
1:33.5	45 million Americans are carrying. You know, they say go big or go home, I think we need to
1:39.1	cancel all of it. If my student loans were canceled, I would be able to teach in a school district
1:44.4	that needs really effective teachers, but unfortunately does not have the salaries scheduled in
1:48.8	place to actually pay a limbo wage. From the home offices of civic ventures in downtown Seattle,
1:59.9	this is pitchfork economics with Nick Hanauer, the best place to get the truth about who gets what
2:05.7	and why. I'm Nick Hanauer, founder of Civic Ventures. I'm David Goldstein, senior fellow at Civic
2:19.4	Ventures. Today, we get to talk about this student debt crisis that neoliberalism has wrought
2:31.1	on the country and the 1.7 trillion in college loans, approximately 45 million Americans are
	...

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