Revised Sowell Student Loans Precis

Thomas Sowell, in his essay “Student Loans” from The Little, Brown Compact Handbook (2007), argues that there is no need to bail out students through loans and that the government can not fix the problem of rising student loans. He supports his view first by listing positive aspects of student loans such as low average student debt and long repayment time period; second, by saying how government actions such as expanding student loans to the rich contributes to the rising cost of loans, and lastly by how the government cannot increase student loans without adding more burden to the tax payers due to “trade offs.” His purpose is to ease the minds of students with student loans, and to show how economics makes more sense in government policies than in political practices. Sowell creates a friendly relationship with his audience by easing their minds about student loans, but creates a more abrasive relationship with his political audience through his sarcastic criticism of politics.