phew. horsemouth has made it to the weekend (once again). the recycling is out (but strangely there's no sign of the binmen (hail the binmen).
last night a virtual meeting of the communal endeavour (it's always a bit of a strange experience, like being a ghost trying to contact the living). forward to the meeting with the people (to see what they think).
'those who graduated in 2020 took out an average of £45,060 in loans, according to a report from the higher education policy institute'
one student sent a freedom of information request to the student loan company wondering if, at £61,000, his debt might be the largest in the UK. but in fact it turns out that medical students (and postgraduates) regularly end up owing £100k (which seems to be a bit of hurdle to get over before you can get to the main purpose of your working life, to save for your pension).
but ladies and gentlemen. we have a winner! it in fact turns out we have an anonymous winner.
the largest debt amassed by a student in england is £189,700.
now this is a very special kind of debt. it is not just the fact that the interest rate charged on it is a whacking great 5.6%.
one respondent to an online survey said that in the three years post-graduation their loan had increased from £49,510 to £60,081, and that (at this rate) by 2050 they would have £152,000 worth of debt.
our winner is thus not necessarily that exceptional and different from the herd - merely an early starter.
'it (becomes).. a regressive tax on people from low income families.' because poorer students have to take out the highest maintenance loans and do not receive support from their parents. the debt and interest accrued on this hits them hardest.
this, horsemouth opines, is debt farming the middle classes, a raid on the wages of young workers. but it also strikes horsemouth as politically foolish. the youth must feel that there is a benefit to life under capitalism, that their brains and hard work is rewarded (otherwise what's the fucking point). horsemouth's parents generation definitely feel this reward and validation, horsemouth's generation less so, their children even less - and this is not a good political trajectory.
horsemouth is fortunate in that he doesn't have the kids (his brother has the kids).
horsemouth was also fortunate to be educated in the time of the student grant and with the financial support of his parents (who had benefited from the post war boom and the opportunities that wider access to education had provided). horsemouth basically scraped through his university degree and subsequent employment, launching into the devastation and conflict of the thatcher years. he has lived out a life (of reasonable comfort) on the margins and aims to slide gracefully towards the exit from the world of work into the land of pension.
enough of him. what about the wider picture?
student debt is also a strange kind of debt. repayment does not start until the now ex-student starts to earn £27k (shortly to be dropped to £23k but still).
there therefore exists the option (for the indebted student) of bouncing the debt onto the state by having a working life earning less than this (if not deliberately then just due to marketplace conditions meaning low wages - such things as brexit or the coronavirus pandemic). now state debt (we are told) is very bad thing and must be purged with tax money (and money saved by cutting services and welfare programs).
this is not a good look.
it is a game of pass the (accursed) parcel between the banks and the state.
of course the state is not just the debt collector of last resort but also the bank of last resort. above a certain point there must be a temptation not to pay the debt off but just to inflate it away.
ah there's the binmen.
it's a grey day outside. horsemouth will schlepp about. sten has just left for work. horsemouth is supposed to be virtually attending a conference on net zero saturday and monday (he will see if his invite has arrived).
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