Peter's Blog

After a more than 3-year pause, government student loan repayments started again this month and it’s already putting the squeeze on borrower’s wallets. This is bad news for an economy already strained by massive levels of debt and rising interest rates. Interest accrual on student loans resumed on September 1 with the first payments coming […]

The more than three-year break from student loan payments is about to end. That’s more bad news for an economy that depends on consumer spending. Interest accrual on student loans will restart on September first with payments resuming Oct. 1.

The student loan forgiveness program recently announced by President Joe Biden stirred up quite the political brouhaha. Progressives praised Biden for helping students burdened by overwhelming student loan debt. Conservatives decried it as an unfair giveaway. But as with most issues, the popular political debate misses the bigger picture. The student loan crisis was primarily […]

President Joe Biden recently announced a student loan forgiveness program. While it will provide some people a small amount of relief from student loan debt, this $300 billion taxpayer-funded scheme does nothing to address the underlying problem. In fact, it will exacerbate it. The underlying problem is the high cost of a college education.

Student loan forgiveness has been in the news lately. There are a number of different plans being floated, from blanket debt repudiation up to various amounts, to more limited income-based schemes. But nobody ever talks about a key question: who is going to pay for it? Well, you will.

With the stimulus checks long ago spent, Americans have gone back to buying things the old-fashioned way – on credit. Household debt surged by $313 billion in the second quarter to nearly $15 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Household Debt and Credit Report. It was the biggest quarterly dollar increase […]

There is a lot of talk about student loan forgiveness. The idea is wildly popular and it would relieve a huge burden crushing millions of Americans. But is there any downside to this idea? In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey talks about the student loan debacle and the possible […]

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer recently suggested that as one of his first acts as president, Joe Biden should wipe out $50,000 of student loan debt for every borrower by executive order. But what kind of impact would this have on the US economy? It would certainly benefit a lot of people. But somebody would […]

US taxpayers are on the hook for a $435 billion loss on the $1.37 trillion in student loans that were on the government’s books at the beginning of this year, according to an internal study by the Department of Education recently reported by the Wall Street Journal. That’s before any loan forgiveness program that might […]

Student loan debt continues to surge despite falling college enrollment. In Q3, student loan balances rose by $23 billion from the second quarter, according to the latest Federal Reserve data.