The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2013/07/the-victims-of-washingtons-deficit-obsession.html
"Sharing is
caring and it is lots of fun..." is a phrase from one of the many songs I
learned in the early years at my elementary school. The teachers shared this
song in order to teach us the importance and the benefits of sharing. However, the
government does not regularly practice this act of sharing, especially with
student loans. The government does not act like a good role model sometimes.
In our government, the effort to make college affordable is one of the few
rare issues on which the differences between Democrats and Republicans seem not
that wide. Both parties agree that affordable colleges can create more
productive workers, thus creating a better economy. However, the government has
the tendency to lead to a market-based system, which the rate on
student loans would be tied to the interest rate on ten-year Treasury bonds.
This simply means that the Congress had the power to choose the interest rates. With our current economy, a market-based system would reflect how the government is trying to make it harder for Americans to spend and invest money,
The market-based system is sensible for connecting to student loans in the long run; however, it is ineffective in the shore run. In the end, a student would have paid an equal amount to the market, however; Congress already has too much control of the interest rates. With the continual cycle of losing money, interest rates will continue to increase, making it harder for students to be fiscally capable and thus surely affecting the graduation rate.
Your commentary has a great introduction; the quote attracts the reader's attention, and you connect it to your own experience. In a way, you wrote your commentary in the format of an article, which is very commendable. This allows you to make your own connections rather than a general statement on the college loan issue. My stance on this issue, after reading the article and your commentary, is to support a notion for affordability within the costs for colleges. These years are the early years of adulthood for young adults, and they are not financially stabilized yet and affordability is crucial.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting article to read. I had no idea that the government had so much control over the student loan. I have to agree with you that the market-based system does not have a positive effect in the short run. I also think it is not good for the future as well because if congress has a power to choose the interest rates, then the government would naturally use it for its own good.
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