Will forgiving student debt stimulate the economy?

sounds great...where do I sign up?

no but it sure as hell would make me happy.

fuck yeah...Im broke motherfucker...I owe $100,000 for 1 year...Bailout the people not banks...

I am so for this idea! I am a finance major and for the longest I've wondered how does giving money to banks STIMULATE an ecomomy that drives on consumerism? Maybe if I didn't have all these student loans I could buy that plushy house or car I've been eyeing. That's pretty stimulating to me.

Forgiving school debt would stimulate my own personal economy.

I can't remember who (maybe peter schiff), but I remember off the back of my mind an economist saying that student loan debt is an indication of a system gone wrong including inflation and other problems.

I myself have it, and am not proud of it, especially being in a top 10 business school where I'm surrounded by rich kids with BMW's. Job markets are tough and I don't think I'll be getting the dream job I could have if i would have graduated 4 years ago...

I don't mind working a less prestigious position, as long as it wasn't fast food, but student loan debt pushes the standards and competition so high!

At what point will it all stop? Everybody can't be bailed out.

I'm just not seeing how this would stimulate the economy. It's not like the people whose loans are forgiven will now have this huge amount of expendable income.

student loan amnesty is the right thing to do

Here's a frustrating thing about repaying student loans in the UK: we pay the government monthly but the Inland Revenue pays the Student Loans Company annually. This means they accumulate interest on all that juicy cash for a year before passing it on. We pay the interest on that.

A large part of my student loan went on pizza and vodka Redbulls so I probably shouldn't complain too much - it's my own fault.

This is interesting...
but what the hell kinda college student (or anyone for that matter) makes 150,000 dollars a year?
most people I know don't, even with a combined family income. This would be nice, but is it realistic to just forgive debt owed by a mojority of people in it?
If this were to ever work, (which I doubt) perhaps a lower threshold of annual income would be more realistic?

As an in debt college student, I'll be the first to say that it certainly would be nice, but I don't think it would ever happen, and if it did it's success would most likely be marginal.

You know what would stimulate the economy? Giving the enough money to pay off my credit card debit...then I'd actually have money spend and I would be able to pay my student loans.

NO, this is the wrong thing to do.

I think a better thing would be to allow student debt to be able to be discharged through bankruptcy. This then would be self regulating in that those who can pay off the debt, would have to do so while those who can't could be discharged.

This would also encourage the lenders to re-negotiate the loans into a more affordable form.

It would stimulate the economy by 1) providing stability and predictability - those who can pay will pay and 2) those who can't would be discharged from the debt, permitting normal consumer behavior to begin again.

Ha...of course I'm in favor of it. I have $161,000 of debt and make in the mid-40s. Interest-only payments take up over 25% of my take home pay and I already pay almost that much per month in child support..

I think the issue with forgiving debt -- what would this mean other than the Fed. will pay the debt? -- is forgiving or supporting debts that are creating the banking crisis to begin with. This is largely in the housing market right now.

We can start by finding all the mortgage people who falsified incomes to collect points on a debt they knew was bound to go bad, line them up against a wall, and shoot them. Through the head. Then seize their assets and use that to pay off my student loan debt.

If you need someone to pull the trigger, give me a call.

I love the idea as I have student debt. but i have no idea if it is a good idea for the economy

Cut out the profit taking middleman (banker) and give it to the working class.

of course!! keep feeding money to the americans that are already filthy rich.

So many bailouts and most people still won't see a 2%change.. haha how ironic

this is insanely tempting, but yeah, not so sure if we should be giving a crapload of money to a bunch of 22 yo fresh out of school! Circuit City will be back in biz for sure!

please say it would!

This would do two hugely important things:

Give recent graduates freedom to persue careers they are now trained for [which would not necessarly be well paid] without worrying about crippling debt - which is automatically good for everyone.

But more importantly it would give poorer folks who are still damned smart a hefty boost to *get* good qualifications. The poverty barrier would effectivly no longer matter.

on the other hand some sort of means testing may be wise.

While I think this would help the economy, it makes me want to bring up the issue of the high costs of college education to begin with. If people weren't paying at least $20,000 a year just to get the education in the first place, then student loan debt wouldn't be an issue.

Filing for bankruptcy doesn't save you from paying Sallie Mae. Not that I'd want to not pay all my bills, I will but why do I have to bail out financial institutes with my money when I can't afforded to pay my property taxes or even replace the leaky roof.

I'm all for this.... Here's my bullshit situation:

I start school with 2 loans from Sallie Mae...

My girlfriend gets pregnant. I have to get a full-time job immediately to support my family. My loan payments kick in immediately when I stop taking classes (although I'm enrolled).

Now between being without a college degree, and $12,000 in debt amongst other debt/bills.... I can't even pay for my loan. So my credit has eaten it and I have no other option. I've gone with Forebarance multiple times and pushed everything I could, but that option ran out...

So I do not pay my loan at all, because I simply can't afford to. People like me... need a bail-out, because if I had my degree it would be one thing but because of my situation I'm basically fucked if I do fucked if I don't...

best idea ever I am a financial consultant drowning in student debt

Here's some perspective: you have a gifted and educated class of workers poised to benefit the economic system and make major contributions . . . yet student loans instead blanket their potential and hinder their freedom to move and produce. If we want stimulation in the economy and progress, then by god this is the way to go. Seriously.