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WSJ -- 40 percent of Federal student loans behind in payments

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by The Big Ragu, Apr 7, 2016.

  1. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    This is an OOP-style post. In many ways, you're a much bigger asshole than him, because I think he simply doesn't know any better. You do.

    Stick to the fucking arguments.
     
  2. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    Who is arguing otherwise?

    You made an assertion, which was that the default rate would be even higher if the normal rules of default applied here. That assertion assumes that people would be making the same decisions they are now under a scheme in which the normal rules of default applied. They wouldn't.
     
  3. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    These are NOT Dick Whitman decisions about missing a payment here or there to buy Christmas presents.

    There are 3 million people in forbearance. (But ignore it yet again, and key in on whatever perceived slight you are going to find in this post.) Those are people who are unemployed or have proven financial hardship, and as a result have gotten permission to halt payments or make reduced payments. The government student loan program works that way. Most of the world doesn't, especially when money is owed. There would be a hell of a lot more defaults without those deferments. On top of that, there are countless others who are somewhere between 1 and 12 months behind in their payments in those figures. I get it. You do a revolving "borrow from Peter to pay Paul" thing. That does not account for most of what is going on here. There are millions of people with thousands of dollars of debt that they can't pay back.
     
  4. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I'm going to try this again:

    You made an assertion, which was that the default rate would be even higher if the normal rules of default applied here. That assertion assumes that people would be making the same decisions they are now under a scheme in which the normal rules of default applied. They wouldn't.

    You are assuming that the people in forbearance, etc., would be in default otherwise. You have no way of knowing that. You have no way of knowing how they would prioritize, given a different scheme.
     
  5. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    "Ignore."

    Bingo!
     
  6. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    So again: We are supposed to be shocked and angry that a government program designed to broaden access to education is not acting like a business aimed at running a profit?
     
  7. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    The Wall Street Journal wants you to be angry that people not majoring in finance at Dartmouth are going to college, too.
     
  8. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Those loans given forebearance are precisely the point. A large majority of those would be loans in default -- in any other consumer lending market. On top of it, most consumer lenders charge off loans well before a year without seeing payment. The only thing that keeps the default rate from being higher here is how they are technically defining default.
     
  9. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    And my point is that at least some percentage of those people would keep making their payments if default was the consequence. So you can't say that they would be in default, because people respond to incentives.
     
  10. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    I think Ragu's understanding and agenda on this story was conveyed pretty well by his first attempt at a headline.
     
    Dick Whitman likes this.
  11. RevPastor

    RevPastor Member

    Well, as we all know, the free market never makes a bad bet and lend money or trade debts that aren't completely on the up and up...
     
  12. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Care to explain?
     
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