On Monday’s edition of the “MEDIA BUZZmeter” podcast, FNC host Howard Kurtz responded to arguments by the Biden administration that President Joe Biden’s student loan debt cancellation program won’t contribute to inflation because the ending of the pause on student loan payments will cancel out the inflationary impact of the cancellation by pointing out that even if this is true, “the deficit would be in better shape and inflation would be in better shape if this money remained with the Treasury” and the debt wasn’t canceled.
While discussing his interview on Sunday with Biden Senior Adviser Gene Sperling Kurtz said, [relevant remarks begin around 19:50] “I asked him, how is this not inflationary? Because this is the equivalent, remember, the estimate is $300 billion to $500 billion that will not be in the Treasury — or I should say is being shifted to the taxpayers — as a result of [this]. It’s as if the taxpayers sent a check to every one of these people who took out student loans who haven’t repaid it so far and they were then unable to pay it off. And he cited various studies that it’s not inflationary, it’s a wash. Well, even if it is a wash, the deficit would be in better shape and inflation would be in better shape if this money remained with the Treasury.”
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