Yet another competitive markets idea bites the dust: loans to college students will now be far cheaper and paybacks more easily managed than they were through private lenders the feds had to subsidize. It's just a fact that there are some things better in the hands of the federal government than in the hands of private enterprise. We've discovered that fact with health care and are paying twice per person for coverage in the private market than is paid anywhere else in the world (AND, to boot, here tens of millions aren't even covered). Those who have backed privatizing social security also rediscovered the flimsiness of that idea with the stock market's downturn.
Some things, to repeat, are better in the hands of the feds--those things where no highly competitive markets exist mainly. Just like individual responsibility, limited government is a wonderful idea when it works, but it just doesn't always do that.
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Ron W. Smith of UT 3:43PM June 14, 2010