During portions of an interview aired on Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy at Harvard University and the Harvard Kennedy School Jason Furman, who served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama and on the Council of Economic Advisers and the National Economic Council under President Bill Clinton, said President Joe Biden’s student loan cancelation plan harms “a lot of other people” in order to help one group, which includes top earners that shouldn’t be the top priority for policymakers.
Furman stated, “I think this is a terrible policy for the point and time we’re in as a country. It’s nearly half a trillion dollars of gasoline being thrown on what is already an inflationary fire that we’re dealing with.” And “The economy cannot absorb this money without generating more inflation, without generating bills that will have to be paid in the future as well. So, you’re helping one group in the country and hurting a lot of other people in the process.”
He also said, “We’re very constrained as a country. Who is your priority to help? Is it a couple making $250,000? Is it a single 24-year-old making $75,000? I just don’t think those should be the top priorities for policymakers.”
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