By Rachel Goldfarb, originally published on Next New Deal
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Nobel winner: Cut student loan rates (USA Today)
Roosevelt Institute Chief Economist Joseph Stiglitz says he backs Elizabeth Warren's plan to let students borrow at the same discount rate as banks because student debt is holding back our economy, especially compared to countries that are actually doing something about it.
- Roosevelt Take: The Roosevelt Institute | Campus Network's policy report "A New Deal For Students" lays out concrete and innovative policy solutions from students to solve the student debt crisis.
Donors Urge Cuomo to Press for Public Financing of State Campaigns (NYT)
Thomas Kaplan talks to Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow Ellen Chesler and others who feel public campaign financing is necessary to combat an unusual form of peer pressure—the kind the wealthy exert on politicians. According to Chesler, it's a moral issue.
In one chart: we have a demand problem, not a skills problem (Working Economics)
Heidi Shierholz looks at the unemployment and underemployment rates of college graduates under 25, and concludes that when even the young and highly educated have trouble finding jobs, the problem is pretty simple: No one is hiring.
America's Scandalous Underfunding of Community Colleges (Slate)
Matt Yglesias uses data on school spending changes to illustrate just how bad things have gotten at community colleges. Even with tuition hikes, they haven't been able to increase spending, which means they're forced to reduce services to our neediest students.
Black Unemployment Is Still Shamefully High (The Atlantic)
Jordan Weissmann knows the jobs crisis isn't close to over in the black community, where unemployment is both high and long-term. But Congress sees a string of decent jobs reports and a booming stock market and convinces itself the recovery is color-blind.
Food Stamp Cuts Backed By Farm Subsidy Beneficiaries (HuffPo)
Arthur Delaney points out the hypocrisy of lawmakers who receive significant subsidies for their family farms but feel the government doesn't have an obligation to feed the poor through SNAP. Anti-poverty programs: too costly. Photo op on a tractor: priceless.
Japan the Model (NYT)
Paul Krugman makes the case for Japan's current intense political efforts to turn around its economy, noting that no one else in the developed world is attempting stimulus on this level, and while it's too early to be certain, the signs look good that it's working.
New on Next New Deal
Michael Kinsley Gets It Wrong On "Austerians"
According to Mike Konzcal, austerians are setting eliminating the deficit as the only priority, while the rest of us see a bigger picture. Kinsley and other austerians are in a fantasy world where everyone saves, no one spends, and the economy improves without stimulus.