Re: good old days and why I think it’s important for federal governments to end student debt crisis. Consider:

“It’s unlikely that it [post-war housing boom] could ever have happened at all w/o the intervention of the fed gov through Federal Housing Administration mortgage...”

“insurance & Veterans Administration mortgage guarantees. The VA made it possible for boys who had gone off to war from these overcrowded city streets to jump several steps up the social ladder & buy a house in the suburbs.”

GI Bill also provided post-secondary education to vets

The Ivy/Trad style which many considered classic American style became popular not b/c men were obsessed with preppies and the Ivy look.

It’s b/c many vets attended schools through GI Bill where that style was popular. After school they took the look home with them.

Many of these vets were not just poor city kids but also poor farm kids. The GI Bill gave them college educations and houses to live in so they could work in the post-war boom economy. That’s where your parents and grandparents made their money and for many. stepped up a class.

So IMHO, when federal governments step in and remove bottlenecks to growth that directly impacts the lower and middle classes that’s when we see greater growth and innovation. It’s not by funnelling money to already bloated corporations.

Progress is made and ideas spread when barriers to entry are removed. That’s what the US gov did post-WWII and created what many consider America’s golden age or to quote Henry R. Luce, “the American Century”.