In Europe it is handouts to help pay our energy bills – even for people who could easily afford to pay them. In the US, it is student debts being written off. With remarkable speed the West is emerging into a new age of big – no, make that huge – paternalistic government.
Today, Joe Biden announced that graduates who earn less than $125,000 a year, and who live in a household whose joint income is less than $250,000, will have $20,000 worth of student debt written off. For those who work in the non-profit sector, the military, or federal or local government, the write-off will be 100 per cent. Graduates have already enjoyed a pause in their repayments since the pandemic, with repayments (for those whose loans will not be written off) due to recommence in January.
We are in an age in which western governments are not even trying to balance their books
Who wouldn’t want to have their student loan written off? For graduates of a certain age in Britain, higher education came for free in the first place.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in