<p>Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. One minute we’re hearing about how taxpayers are going to be on the hook for massive defaults on student loans, and how generous loan repayment options mean taxpayers will never see their money back. Next minute we’re hearing that the government is making unconscionable profits on student loans by gouging student borrowers.</p>
<p>I don’t think both things can be true, people. Maybe they’e just setting interest rates at a level calculated to make it most likely that the net long-term cost to taxpayers will be approximately zero, given expected default rates and more generous loan forgiveness options. They might come in a little high or a little low. But I just don’t find either version of “the sky is falling” entirely plausible.</p>