In this week’s Pope Center Clarion Call, I write about the new federal policy on forgiving student loan debt, which is pure foolishness. Most college graduates, with or without student debt, are thrilled to get public-sector jobs because the pay is good and the job security is far better than in the competitive sector. There is no need to give them the gift of erasing some of their debt to entice them to “follow their heart” into government employment.
I don’t think it was ever true that the public sector “lost talent” to the private sector, but supposing that analysis to be correct, at a time when the private sector — where goods are actually produced — is struggling, shouldn’t we worry that the public sector is luring away talent that the private sector needs?