What Would Happen If We ‘Forgive’ Student Loan Debt?
Religion & Liberty Online

What Would Happen If We ‘Forgive’ Student Loan Debt?

Student debt has become a hot issue this election season, with both Democratic candidates — Clinton and Sanders — offering proposals for forgiving student loans.

But what would happen if the U.S. actually forgave student debt? Would the loans simply vanish? Would tuition prices decline?

Economist Don Boudreaux explains what really happens and why “debt forgiveness” merely transfers the debt to others.

Joe Carter

Joe Carter is a senior writer for The Gospel Coalition, author of The Life and Faith Field Guide for Parents, the editor of the NIV Lifehacks Bible, and coauthor of How to Argue Like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History’s Greatest Communicator. He also serves as an associate pastor at McLean Bible Church in Arlington, Va.