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Comment by slv77 | Hacker News Reader

Loaning $160K to someone who was unlikely to be able to pay that back was also a stupid mistake, no? Given that the debt is non-dischargeable not everyone is allowed to fail.

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those are contradictory statements. all student loans are eventually payed back. giving a zero-risk loan that is guaranteed to be payed back, with no chance of losing the money, and 100% chance of making money via interest is not a mistake for a bank. the only person failing is the one who destroys their life by taking the loan. since you like throwing out an unfounded "stupid" unlike my "founded stupid," let me also let you know about how loans work, since you don't, but are opinionated on the subject on which you lack knowledge. Only about 10k/year is a direct loan to the student. The rest need a cosigner who passes a credit check.

not everyone is allowed to fail. the banks for example are not. it appears people who failed basic civics were also allowed to pass high school.

So you are suggesting that lending money to someone where prospective income is unlikely to cover principal and interest is not stupid because the creditors (who may be banks) have been able to structure the system that they won’t ever face the consequences of their decisions?

No, I am not suggesting the non-existent strawman you made up where people don't eventually repay their non-forgivable loans. Yes, I am suggesting that taking on a guaranteed profit with zero risk is not stupid. I am not sure what you don't understand about that.

I’m suggesting that making loans to people who can’t reasonably be expected to pay shouldn’t be the business of banks. Banks making loans to people who can’t pay is just charity with extra steps.

Making loans to people who are reasonably likely to pay the loan back used to be the primary business of banks. I guess you are correct and I don’t understand why banks are now in the business of making loans to people who can’t pay.

you keep making up that strawman "making loans to people who can't pay." they literally pay, and they literally always pay, by the definition of the phrase "unforgivable loan." It is not the bank's job to make sure you take out a loan and live comfortably, instead of taking out a loan and have to sleep on a bunk bed with a roomate for a decade, while eating lentils and the cheapest of ground beef.

I'm not going to bother reading your reply, because you seem to regurgitate the same thing over and over again, without understanding that what you are saying is factually wrong. All I can say is, good luck in life without comprehension of simple things. You're gonna need it.

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