Joseph N. Patten – författare

This book traces how the student loan system has created insurmountable student debt traps for millions of student borrowers contrary to its original purpose of promoting social mobility. Today, approximately 45 million Americans hold over $1.7 trillion in student loan debt, with over 20% of borrowers in default. Student loan debt has the greatest negative impact of wealth-poor students, with Black and first-generation students less likely to attain a college degree, more likely to default on student loan debt, and less likely to gain the same type of wage premium from their college degrees than white student loan borrowers. The book also offers a wide range of policy solutions for remedying the student loan debt crisis.

This book traces how the student loan system has created insurmountable student debt traps for millions of student borrowers contrary to its original purpose of promoting social mobility. Today, approximately 45 million Americans hold over $1.7 trillion in student loan debt, with over 20% of borrowers in default. Student loan debt has the greatest negative impact of wealth-poor students, with Black and first-generation students less likely to attain a college degree, more likely to default on student loan debt, and less likely to gain the same type of wage premium from their college degrees than white student loan borrowers. The book also offers a wide range of policy solutions for remedying the student loan debt crisis.

Since the 2010 Citizens United and SpeechNOW rulings, campaign finance laws have undergone a seismic shift. These changes include the establishment of super PACs, which have allowed unlimited contributions and spending from megadonors to be funneled into political activism. These dramatic changes in campaign finance have allowed a small number of ultra-wealthy contributors to reshape American democracy and all three branches of government.Using data from the 2024 election cycle, this book explores the impact of the super PAC, which has allowed megadonors unprecedented capacity to shape political outcomes through targeted campaigning. These super PACs outspend all other political entities combined in America’s most competitive congressional races while prioritizing national agendas and extensively using negative campaign advertisements. At the executive level, contributions to super PACs have become a convenient way for the ultra-wealthy to gain backdoor influence into executive actions and policy choices. Finally, the judicial branch, which opened the door to these changes, has experienced a crisis of legitimacy resulting from ties to dark money from litigants with cases before the courts. Combining historical, legal and empirical analysis, this book provides a clear, accessible overview of how campaign finance deregulation has amplified the voices of the wealthy at the expense of democratic representation.