Ben Bernanke on forgiving student debt:

[Caliman73]

40. My so went to a University of California

His fees were 48,000 dollars per year. I/He were fortunate enough that he qualified for almost full scholarship otherwise that debt would have crushed us.

I went to a UC in the 1990's. My fees were high, but substantially lower than 48,000 dollars a year.

This increase in tuition and other costs is exactly fueled by the proposition that education is a commodity that can be borrowed against and "repaid" at a later date.

Education is a benefit to society, and I am not talking just about a university degree. Trade schools and community colleges help people get into trades and paraprofessional careers. All should be subsidized to a large degree with the idea that you take your skills to help vulnerable people in society for a number of years to "work off " that subsidy.

They do this in European countries to pretty good effect.