The one thing I hate about Ronald Reagan was that he wouldn’t allow students to go bankrupt on their student loan debt. What if you make a bad decision and you can’t get a job after college? What if the economy goes into a recession and jobs are scarce? Or what if you find out that you are not suited to your career choice? Everybody can make a mistake, but without the ability to go bankrupt this is a error that will follow you till the end of your life. You won’t be able to buy a house. You now pay more for everything. The I.R.S. can garnish your paychecks and you will never get a refund. You won’t be able to get a good job because they check credit reports. Under these circumstances a life of crime might be the only answer. What a horrible choice?
The Universities took advantage of this. That’s because the cost of going to college has gone through the roof. They know the students won’t have to pay the money back right away so they keep raising the tuition. They get endowments and donations. What about college football? Or basketball? That really rakes in cash. Do these great players get any of that money? What a bunch of greedy bastards!
I say let the people go bankrupt. Get the monkey off our backs. But! Let’s not forget that bankruptcy costs money and may take several years to resolve. It’s no walk in the park.