{"product_id":"the-debt-trap-how-student-loans-became-a-national-catastrophe-9781501199479","title":"The Debt Trap: How Student Loans Became a National Catastrophe","description":"\u003cb\u003eAN NPR AND \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK POST\u003c\/i\u003e BEST BOOK OF 2021\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom acclaimed \u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e reporter Josh Mitchell, the \"devastating account\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e) of student debt in America.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 1981, a new executive at Sallie Mae took home the company's financial documents to review. \"You've got to be shitting me,\" he later told the company's CEO. \"This place is a gold mine.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOver the next four decades, the student loan industry that Sallie Mae and Congress created blew up into a crisis that would submerge a generation of Americans into $1.5 trillion in student debt. In \u003ci\u003eThe Debt Trap\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e reporter Josh Mitchell tells the \"vivid and compelling\" (\u003ci\u003eChicago Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e) untold story of the scandals, scams, predatory actors, and government malpractice that have created the behemoth that one of its original architects called a \"monster.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs he charts the \"jaw-dropping\" (Jeffrey Selingo, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eWho Gets in and Why\u003c\/i\u003e) seventy-year history of student debt in America, Mitchell never loses sight of the countless student victims ensnared by an exploitative system that depends on their debt. Mitchell also draws alarming parallels to the housing crisis in the late 2000s, showing the catastrophic consequences student debt has had on families and the nation's future. Mitchell's character-driven narrative is \"necessary reading\" (\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e) for anyone wanting to understand the central economic issue of our day.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJosh Mitchell is a reporter in the Washington bureau of \u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, writing about the economy and higher education. In 2016, the Education Writers Association named him the nation's top education beat reporter among large publications, calling his reporting \"unique, comprehensive, illuminating, and a must-read for policymakers, prospective and current college students, and their parents.\" He lives and works in Washington, DC.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50718098424082,"sku":"9781501199479","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_cb0fb9d4-bd83-4e8c-9107-67d01ace7358.jpg?v=1734633535","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-debt-trap-how-student-loans-became-a-national-catastrophe-9781501199479","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}