Unintended Consequences Of Obama's Student Loan Policies

So this week, ...

His new policies on student loans include greater access to both payment reductions and loan forgiveness.

And, needless to say, his Rose Garden speech oozed election year politics.

As the Boston Herald put it: “This is nothing more than politics as official policy … the president’s shout-out to U.S. Rep. John Tierney, a vulnerable Democrat, at yesterday’s White House ceremony was just one of the clues.”

To be clear, student debt has become a huge problem that demands attention. Alongside other challenges, such as finding a decent job in a stagnant economy, student borrowers face daunting payment burdens that they’re failing to meet at record rates.

But the problem requires more than just a political instinct to bail out a wide swath of the voting public.

In a better world, policymakers would take a cold, hard look at the effects of federally-funded student loan programs, including the good and the bad. Here are a few such observations that you’re unlikely to hear from your president:

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