Experts Agree - Cancelling Student Loan Debt Would Grow the Economy

A recent report from the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College "finds that there would be huge benefits if the federal government were to forgive all existing student debt."

"The idea of canceling student debt is not just some crazy idea out of left field, but is actually something that could be done", says Marshall Steinbaum, Research Director at the Roosevelt Institute and coauther of the report.

"The way this and similar policies are often discussed is in a mode of 'well can we really afford this?' and the answer is definitely yes."

Cancelling Student Loans Would Lead to an Increase of U.S. GDP Between $861 - $1,083 Billion Over 10 Years

Furthermore, cancelling student loans is also estimated to create between 1.18 and 1.55 million new jobs over the same decade, which is between 50-70% more new jobs per year than what we're currently generating.

With 44 million Americans currently buried under $1.3 TRILLION in student loan debt, which is more than we hold in Auto and Credit Card Debt combined, there's good reason to reduce this burden, freeing-up finances to promote consumer spending and kick-starting every sector of our economy.

But there's a Political win here as well, especially for the Trump Administration and his bungling Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who's grown infamous for moving to suspend the Borower's Defense Against Repayment Program and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, two of the most important, most powerful Federal Student Loan Forgiveness Programs currently on offer.

Cancelling Student Loans Would Cost Half as Much as the Trump Tax Cuts, While Producing a Larger Macro Economic Impact

Total Federal student loan forgiveness is anticipated to cost about $1.4 trillion over a decade, which is almost identical to the CBO projections for the cost of President Trump's new tax bill, but "the positive impacts of cancelling student debt would likely be more broadly felt than those of the tax bill".

Stony Brook University professor of Public Policy and Economic Stephanie Kelton states: "What our report shows is that you get a greater macro economics impact, bigger bang for the buck, and that student debt cancellation has about half the budgetary effect of the Tump tax cuts."

The report also finds that forgiving student loan debt could "attenuate some longstanding racial disparities in debt and education... helping keep the high cost of borrowing from exacerbating the racial wealth gap between the growing number of Americans seeking better employment through higher education."

President Trump, Betsy DeVos, Senate & House Leadership Members, We Call on You to End the Student Loan Debt Crisis by Cancelling 100% of Federal Student Loans

Sources:

http://www.levyinstitute.org/publications/the-macroeconomic-effects-of-student-debt-cancellation

https://mic.com/articles/187807/want-to-grow-the-us-economycancel-student-debt-new-report-shows