Postsecondary education costs in the United States today are rising with an increasing shift from societal responsibility to individual burden, thereby driving greater student borrowing. Evidence suggests that (i) such student debt may have undesirable educational effects and potentially...

This article is a reprint of a speech given by William Poole, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, to the St. Louis Gateway Chapter of the National Association for Business Economics. In today's environment economic uncertainties abound both abroad and at home. In this article the...