Submitted by Dan Roe (not verified) on July 10, 2008 - 2:59pm.
I was really moved by your article, so I want to send along my response:
I'm stunned to finally find an article that says much of what my wife
and I have been saying for years. We both graduated from Washington
University (Ph.D., & MA, '99), went on to find good jobs in our fields
(including work at Harvard--great for building that CV), and still
can't keep up. Our pedigrees and work histories are fine. We've
declared bankruptcy, but still can't keep our heads above water, as
unlikely as this story sounds. And worse--there are MILLIONS of us
out there, up to our eyes in personal debt. We hear similar stories
almost every day now.
One result: WE will not be contributing to any economic recovery. We
simply don't have the money to put into the economy, and it looks like
we won't have the money regardless of our productivity.
What led to this current fiasco? After doing some research on the
subject I'm of the opinion that the creation of Sallie, Fannie, and
Freddie, occurring in a growing culture of corporatism (i.e., welfare
for the rich; privatization of profits and collectivization of risks)
have inflated the cost of everything, including education, housing,
and loans of every sort, while sticking everyday Americans with the
bill. The current system is rotten to the core, and the problem is
systemic throughout the loan industry (not just student loans). Lax
lending standards may be the only reason we were able to attend school
in the first place (though I doubt it), but now we're debt slaves.
This situation, faced by millions, helps nobody, not us, not our
economy, and not our fellow Americans, the vast majority of whom did
not benefit from increasingly lax standards in the lending industry
(and far too many of whom trusted that loan officers knew what they
were talking about).
I was really moved by your
I was really moved by your article, so I want to send along my response:
I'm stunned to finally find an article that says much of what my wife
and I have been saying for years. We both graduated from Washington
University (Ph.D., & MA, '99), went on to find good jobs in our fields
(including work at Harvard--great for building that CV), and still
can't keep up. Our pedigrees and work histories are fine. We've
declared bankruptcy, but still can't keep our heads above water, as
unlikely as this story sounds. And worse--there are MILLIONS of us
out there, up to our eyes in personal debt. We hear similar stories
almost every day now.
One result: WE will not be contributing to any economic recovery. We
simply don't have the money to put into the economy, and it looks like
we won't have the money regardless of our productivity.
What led to this current fiasco? After doing some research on the
subject I'm of the opinion that the creation of Sallie, Fannie, and
Freddie, occurring in a growing culture of corporatism (i.e., welfare
for the rich; privatization of profits and collectivization of risks)
have inflated the cost of everything, including education, housing,
and loans of every sort, while sticking everyday Americans with the
bill. The current system is rotten to the core, and the problem is
systemic throughout the loan industry (not just student loans). Lax
lending standards may be the only reason we were able to attend school
in the first place (though I doubt it), but now we're debt slaves.
This situation, faced by millions, helps nobody, not us, not our
economy, and not our fellow Americans, the vast majority of whom did
not benefit from increasingly lax standards in the lending industry
(and far too many of whom trusted that loan officers knew what they
were talking about).