Ben Bernanke on forgiving student debt:

[PJMcK]

9. I'm ambivalent on this issue

On the one hand, I understand that having $50K-$100K of debt when you get out of college is a crushing obligation that can be very difficult to get out from under. This is especially true when starting salaries for so many jobs are so low. How can a young person fund housing, pay for groceries, insurance and gas and still service such outrageous debt?

Which brings me to my other hand. How in the world could anyone amass so much debt at such a young age?! Yes, the cost of higher education is ridiculously high. Frankly, however, the money spent on an undergraduate degree is often wasted when factored into one's earning capabilities over the course of a 40-50 year career. To earn a Master's or Doctorate degree-- which will have more impact on one's earning potential-- generally adds to the mountain of debt.

How do students and their parents think they'll pay off the loans that they willingly signed up for? Did they really believe that these degrees will translate into immediate high salaries? That seems quite naive to me.

Higher education, like health insurance, is far too expensive in this country. When I went to college, the tuition was much lower and my parents and I had been planning for the expense all through my high school years. I was terrified to take a loan for graduate school and negotiated with my school to get the Master's degree in one year, (I took all of the academic requirements as a senior), so that I would limit my costs. I borrowed $4,000 which I was able to pay off two years after graduation. I cannot imagine how these young people will ever be able to advance in life with such debt.

I don't know the solution and as I wrote, I'm ambivalent because those people who paid off their loans won't get the same benefits as those who didn't pay their obligations yet our society is deeply challenged by this issue.