Honestly, I think we need a bubble. Bailout the student loans.
I think that the only way this madness ends is an economic apocalypse happens. D.C. is too cowardly to stop otherwise.
So, why bother dragging it out?
The point is that if we dismiss the student loans, then we do not pop the bubble.
We need to make the student loans hurt, so people will stop taking them. Only then will the bubble pop.
You should be free to buy up and forgive as much student debt as you wish.
The USA can not reform itself on its present path
The Federal Reserve, printed unbacked dollars to buy government debt, agency debt and to bail out its member banks simply makes it TOO EASY for government to continue on its present path. In fact, one and a half of political parties depend on it.
The problem is not the loans. The problem is the degrees that people are borrowing money to obtain. Who borrows $100k plus for a degree in Gender Studies, African American Studies, Theater, or some other non-marketable field? I have hobbies too, but I paid for them for myself rather than borrowing money to explore topics of only personal interest.
What is the default rate on student loans to engineers, economists, accountants, scientists, nurses, biologists, chemists, and other majors that produce a useful skill? My guess is that the “bubble” would disappear if interests rates varied by major. In any case, the bubble is not my problem; it is a problem of those foolish enough to borrow money they cannot repay and of those reckless enough to make those loans.