What Happens When The Government Makes Something Better

Investor’s Business Daily posted an article about what has happened to student loans under the Obama Administration.

This is the picture:

The Obama Administration took over the student loan program in 2010.

The article reports:

In a nutshell, federal loan aid to colleges is pushing up tuition faster than inflation. Students must take out ever higher amounts of debt to pay for their education, but starting salaries haven’t kept up. If students don’t get good jobs when they graduate, many will default.

The study, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, shows conclusively that growth in one program — the Federal Student Loan Program — was more than enough to account for the entire rise in college tuition from 1987 to 2010 — a stunning conclusion that suggests a massive market failure.

From 2006 to today, total student loan debt soared from $517 billion to $1.3 trillion, a 152% jump, to cover surging tuition costs. Over that same period, real starting wages for college grads were essentially flat.

Sadly, this should be no surprise, given recent history.

Whenever government gets involved in subsidizing anything — from sugar to home mortgages — higher prices emerge, leading to market disruptions and, often, a “crisis.”

At some point, we need to realize that the private sector does a better job at everything than the government. The bubble of the student loan debt will be bailed out by the taxpayers, and the national debt will continue to spiral out of control. This is our future unless we begin to elect people who understand both human nature and free markets.