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Click on the articles below to read and understand some of the issues and solutions.
August 8, 2018, Eugene Weekly
New Data Reveal Extent of Oregon Student Loan Debt
More than half of Oregon college grads are in debt
New Data Reveal Extent of Oregon Student Loan Debt
More than half of Oregon college grads are in debt
More than 50 percent of Oregon college grads are in debt, and Oregon is ranked 22nd in the country for its amount of average student loan debt per borrower.
That amount per borrower in Oregon is $27,500,
August 7, 2018 Wall Street on Parade
Financial Health of US Consumer Will Determine Severity of the Next Recession
Financial Health of US Consumer Will Determine Severity of the Next Recession
According to the report, “aggregate household debt balances increased in the first quarter of 2018, for the 15th consecutive quarter. As of March 31, 2018, total household indebtedness stood at $13.21 trillion,” which is $536 billion higher than it was at the end of the third quarter of 2008. That was when the country was ravaged by the worst financial crash since the Great Depression.
May 19, 2018, S.F. Examiner
Build a public bank in S.F.
Build a public bank in S.F.
A public bank would serve San Francisco in many ways; first and foremost as a place to ethically store our public dollars. With a public bank, we can ensure that our deposits do not go toward fossil fuel emissions, gun manufacturing or purchases or support of unfair labor practices. We also provide that any profits made off our deposits don’t go to the bottom lines of big banks but rather get reinvesting into our community.
May 8, 2018, IPS (Institute for Policy Studies)
Restoring Opportunity in California
Taxing Wealth to Fund College for All in California
Restoring Opportunity in California
Taxing Wealth to Fund College for All in California
There was a time in the not-too-distant past when Californians could attend top tier research universities as well as state and community colleges without incurring student debt. It was not that long ago that public colleges and universities didn’t even charge tuition.
This report details the transition from a debt free public higher education system to one that leaves hundreds of thousands of students deep in debt year after year. It also details the corresponding tax cut given to the wealthiest Californians, the lost revenue of which could have been used to pre-empt the growing student debt crisis.
April 25, 2018 HuffPost
Kristen Gillibrand Unveils a Public Option for Banking
The idea would provide a low-cost alternative to payday loans — and it might just save the Postal Service, too.
Kristen Gillibrand Unveils a Public Option for Banking
The idea would provide a low-cost alternative to payday loans — and it might just save the Postal Service, too.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is introducing legislation Wednesday that would require every U.S. post office to provide basic banking services, an ambitious step aimed at improving the lives of Americans with limited financial resources.
March 1, 2018 The Progressive Populist
An Unprecedented Grassroots Effort Could Put a Stop to Fraudulent Debt Collections
It could finally bring to heel the profoundly abusive banking system and its main collaborators.
An Unprecedented Grassroots Effort Could Put a Stop to Fraudulent Debt Collections
It could finally bring to heel the profoundly abusive banking system and its main collaborators.
Longtime monetary-reform advocate Mickey Paoletta of Mortgage Defense Systems in Mechanicsburg, Pa., (hermitageway7@cs.com) has helped scores of individual homeowners being sued in foreclosure proceedings expose their mortgage “loans” as invalid in court.
Feb. 9, 2018, New York
We must cancel everyone's student debt, for the economy's sake
We must cancel everyone's student debt, for the economy's sake
Late last year, congressional Republicans passed a $1.5 trillion tax cut, which delivered the lion’s share of its benefits to the wealthy and corporations. The GOP did not justify this policy on the grounds that all corporate shareholders and trust-fund hipsters deserved to have their wealth increased. Rather, the party argued that, however one felt about making the rich richer, the tax cuts would ultimately benefit allAmericans by increasing economic growth and lowering unemployment.
But what if we could have achieved those objectives, at roughly the same price, by forgoing tax cuts — and wiping out every penny of student debt in the United States, instead?
Read the article here.
Feb 5, 2018, The Sanders institute
Report: THE MACROECONOMIC EFFECTS OF STUDENT DEBT CANCELLATION
Report: THE MACROECONOMIC EFFECTS OF STUDENT DEBT CANCELLATION
More than 44 million Americans are caught in a student debt trap. Collectively, they owe nearly $1.4 trillion on outstanding student loan debt. Research shows that this level of debt hurts the US economy in a variety of ways, holding back everything from small business formation to new home buying, and even marriage and reproduction. It is a problem that policymakers have attempted to mitigate with programs that offer refinancing or partial debt cancellation. But what if something far more ambitious were tried? What if the population were freed from making any future payments on the current stock of outstanding student loan debt? Could it be done, and if so, how? What would it mean for the US economy?
Read the report. Click here.
The agents arranging these loans can get fat commissions of up to 16 percent, an example of the perverse incentives created in the lucrative student loan market. Servicers often profit more when borrowers default than when they pay smaller amounts over a longer time, so they have an incentive to encourage delinquencies, pushing students into default rather than rescheduling their loans
Read article. Click here.
Dec 26, 2017, Ellen Brown
Student Debt Slavery: Bankrolling Financiers on the Backs of the Young
Student Debt Slavery: Bankrolling Financiers on the Backs of the Young
Slaves had to be housed, fed and cared for. “Free” men housed and fed themselves. For the more dangerous jobs, such as mining, Irish immigrants were used rather than black slaves, because the Irish were expendable. Free men could be kept enslaved by debt, by paying them wages that were insufficient to meet their costs of living.
Read article. Click here.