- Social:
University of Michigan
Professor of economics and education and co-director of the Education Policy Initiative at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan
PROFILE
Brian Jacob
Guest
FROM Brian Jacob
To the Point
Student Debt Is Out of Control: Is it Ever OK to Default? For baby boomers, the big issue was war and peace. For millennials it's student debt. That's according to a poll by Harvard University . With the average amount owed about $35,000, the total burden is more than a trillion dollars for college and graduate school for some 40 million Americans, — all of whom are old enough to vote. In the Washington Post , Danielle Douglas-Gabriel reports that presidential candidates of both political parties are addressing the issue. Meanwhile, the New York Times is being called irresponsible for an op-ed piece encouraging student debtors to default on their payments. Is that the start of a much-needed conversation or just lousy advice? We hear more about the high cost of higher education.
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To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
To the Point
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.
To the Point
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
To the Point
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.