How soaring inflation is complicating Biden's decision on whether to forgive student loan debt?
In April, President Joe Biden said he was taking a "hard look" at executive action to forgive federal student loan debt and would "have an answer" in a couple of weeks.
But six weeks later, the president hasn't made a decision as the push has collided with the politics of 40-year-high-inflation in a midterm election year.
The president has also called fighting inflation his "top domestic issue" as soaring consumer prices and surging fuel costs consume his presidency.
Canceling potentially up to $10,000 in student loan debt would mean billons more collectively staying in the pockets of Americans.
For the first time, the national average for a gallon of gasoline surged above $5 on Saturday, according to AAA.
The Consumer Price Index increased 8.6% annually in May, the largest rise since December 1981.
Whereas, the economists had predicted inflation would hold steady at 8.3%.
A final call on student loan forgiveness from Biden isn't expected until later this summer.
Biden's earlier plan was to cancel upto $10,000 student loan debt per borrower.
But this is not a small macroeconomic thing.
Canceling $10,000 in student debt for households that earn less than $300,000 would cost the federal government $230 billion.
The economical situation is now complicated. This is a crisis, and we have to go through it right.
Let's Vote:
What do you think?
Whether Biden should change his decision from "forgiving the student loan debt"?