Loan Forgiveness: Why Students Deserve It and So Do Banks

It’s Always the Economy, Stupid.

In 1992, James Carville tossed out the phrase, “it’s the economy, stupid,” in reaction to George HW Bush’s intellectual distance from the average American. The phrase became a guidepost for the Clinton campaign and is in common circulation even today. Because…it IS the economy, stupid.

President Biden announced a student loan forgiveness plan, and many Americans (including myself) are eagerly awaiting the final numbers and determining what hoops we need to jump through. There are those who spitefully claim that since THEY paid their debt, it is unfair for today’s borrowers to get relief. Anyone with a real handle on finance and responsibility knows that is logical fallacy.

In an ethical discussion, let’s use the Trolley Paradox: You are riding in a trolley without functioning brakes, headed toward a switch in the tracks. On the current track stand five people who will be killed if the trolley continues on its path. You have access to a switch that would make the trolley change to the other track, but another person stands there. That person is certain to be killed if the switch is activated.

What do you do? Is it worth it to kill one person in order to save five?

Do you allow fate to take its course, believing that you are not ordained with the power to change the outcome?

Do you change tracks or do you allow the status quo?