Reaganomics is a cancer, and we've reached its terminal stage

[unhappycamper]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Reaganomics-is-a-cancer-a-by-Thom-Hartmann-Debt_Reaganomics_Student-140321-310.html



Is Student Loan Debt Forgiveness a Good Idea? Student loans are difficult to repay in a sluggish economy, and many recent graduates are struggling under considerable debt.

Reaganomics is a cancer, and we've reached its terminal stage
By Thom Hartmann
OpEdNews Op Eds 3/21/2014 at 22:30:48

Our young people are drowning in a sea of debt, and it all started with Reaganomics.

And Reaganomics is a lot like cancer.

Most people don't know they have cancer until it reaches the later cancer stages, when it becomes much harder to treat.

In the early stages, cancer starts off as inflammation. A few cells grow slowly initially. But then, the cells begin to rapidly multiply, and the cancer begins to pick up steam.

[antiquie]

1. Thom spot on, again.

Free dark graphic novel on student loan debt:
The Default Trigger

[rhett o rick]

2. I agree that we are in the final stages. That's why it is absolutely essential

that we elect progressive Democrats. We need drastic measures. I dont believe we can survive 8 years of Clinton.

[brooklynboy49]

3. I couldn't agree more

Clinton would be 8 more years of the same, if not worse. We need a Warren or a Sanders. It's time to stop crappin' around and start implementing some real change. We wasted years trying for "bipartisanship" when we should have been taking it to the enemy. And let's not mince words, the thugs are the enemy and it was naive to think you could reach any kind of bipartisan agreement on anything meaningful. First he doesn't even seek single payer. Then he puts SS on the table, all in the name of this mythical creature called bipartisanship. Might as well have sought unicorns and pink elephants. Clinton? No.Fucking. Way. We're in the midst of what a Clinton administration would look like. It's time for a take no prisoners, no holds barred approach. The middle and working classes (mostly the latter until recently) have been under siege since 1980 under both Democratic and Republican rule, it's time to take the gloves off and stop pussyfooting around. Warren/Sanders in 2016!

[hfojvt]

4. I might blame some of the victims

One of my own nephews and one of my own nieces. They both had a chance to get two years of free school at a community college, and they both passed up that chance in favor of taking on more debt.

Yes, tuition has gone way up, in part because states have reduced aid because the federal government has reduced aid.

But that does not have an impact on things like U of Phoenix. Which a recent article here said accounted for lots of student loan defaults.

Students are CHOOSING to take on these debts. They are getting lots of encouragement, probably, to do so. But again, people are CHOOSING to encourage them.

Much as I hate Reaganomics, those choices are NOT the fault of Reaganomics.

Another impact on college tuition is probably DEMAND. In 1980, there were 12.1 million college students, by 2010 that number had grown to 21 million. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d11/tables/dt11_200.asp

And remember, college students in 1980 are sometimes called part of the baby BOOM. Even since 2000, the percentage of young people going to college has increased "the percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in college rose from 35 percent in 2000 to 41 percent in 2010." http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98. In 1980 the enrollment rate was only 25.7%. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d11/tables/dt11_213.asp

What does basic economics say happens when demand increases?

And what happens when the supply of something like "college graduates" increases?