the maths right
How to fix America’sstudent-finance problem
America’s total student debt, at over $1.5trn, is larger than the national borrowing of most countries. It has quintupled in size since 2004, overtaking both borrowings on credit cards and car finance.This growth is often presented as evidence of a crisis. But the rise in total debt, though arresting, is not the real problem. It largely reflects increased borrowing by graduate students, such as budding lawyers, who will go on to be high earners. And 92% of student debt is owed to the federal government, meaning defaults pose no risk to the financial system (see Finance section). The real problem is that 11m Americans, many poor and non-white, and many duped into studying for worthless degrees, struggle to repay even modest debts.
美国学生贷款总额已超15万亿美元，这一数字比大多数国家的国债数额都要庞大。自2004年起这一贷款的规模已经扩大了5倍，超过了信用卡借贷和汽车融资。这种增长通常被看作是危机来临的证据。但是总贷款的增长并不是真正的问题所在。这很大程度上反映的是毕业生借贷的增加，例如那些未来将会获得高收入的实习律师。而且百分之92的贷款是由联邦政府借出的，这意味着违约不会造成金融体系的风险（见经济部分）。真正的问题在于一千一百万美国人，其中大多数是穷人和非白人，他们中的很多人因为攻读无实际价值的学位而借贷，但却无力偿还哪怕是中等额度的贷款。
Some Democratic candidates for president seems not to know this. Bernie Sanders, the front-runner, wants to cancel all student debt—a handout that would indeed provide relief to those who are struggling but would also offer an enormous windfall to the well-off. Elizabeth Warren would cancel all debt up to $50,000, a policy that is similarly indiscriminate. Thankfully Joe Biden and MikeBloomberg, who announced his student-debt policy on February 18th, have plans that are better suited to the problem. Messrs Biden and Bloomberg want to put all existing and new borrowers for undergraduate degrees into an income-linked repayment scheme, under which borrowers must repay only a fraction of their annual earnings above a certain threshold. The Economist has long argued in favour of such a repayment mechanism, which works well in Britain. Linkingrepayments to income makes it impossible to be impoverished by student debt, and frees graduates to take risks early in their careers.
一些民主党总统候选人似乎对此并不了解。领跑者伯尼.桑德斯主张取消所有学生贷款，这确确实实给那些为贷款挣扎的学生减轻了负担，同时也为小康者带来了巨大的意外之财。伊丽莎白.艾伦主张无差别的取消高于5万美金的全部贷款。幸运的是，乔.拜登和布隆伯格在2月18号宣布的学生贷款政策似乎是一个对贷款问题的更好解决方案。拜登和布隆伯格想要将所有现存和未来的在校生贷款纳入一个收入关联偿还体系，在这个体系中只有当年收入超过一定数值后，才需要以收入的一定比例来偿还贷款。长期以来经济学人一直呼吁这种在英国运行很好的支付体系。收入关联支付体系使因为学生贷款而陷入贫困不再可能发生，并使毕业生可以在事业初期进行冒险。
America already has income-linked repayment schemes for distressed borrowers, but they are flawed. The earnings thresholds at which repayments begin are too low: typically around $18,000, compared with £26,000 ($34,000) in Britain. The interest rates, which are typically around 6%, are unjustifiably high for borrowing from the government. And the schemes are an administrative nightmare.Students must choose from one of four options and fill out new paperwork every year to avoid penalties. Any outstanding debt is forgiven after 20 or 25 years, but debt forgiveness is taxable, putting struggling debtors at the mercy of the internal Revenue Service.
美国已经对陷入困境的借款者采用了收入关联收入偿还体系，但是这一体系存在缺陷。开始还款的收入门槛相对于英国的34000刀太低了，通常只有18000刀。贷款利息通常在6%附近，对于从政府处借贷来说这是过高的。而这个偿还体系计划是一个管理噩梦。学生必须从四个选择中挑选一种，并每年填写新的书面说明以避免罚款。在20到25年后可以免除未偿还债务，但免除债务是要纳税的，陷入困境的债务人将任国税局摆布。
Note：
Flaw：a mistake weakness or a mark that makes something imperfect.
E : a flaw in the software
By enrolling everyone automatically, Mr.Biden’s and Mr.Bloomberg’s plans would greatly improve the status quo. Both would cut repayments from 10% of income above the threshold to 5%, less even than in the British system. Mr.Biden would raise the repayment threshold to $25,000 and make all debt forgiveness tax-free. Mr.Bloombergwould forgive the debt that was incurred at failed or predatory for-profit universities and exempt debt forgiveness up to $57,000 from tax. Both candidates should also consider cutting the high rate of interest.
通过为每个人自动注册，拜登和布隆伯格的计划将极大地概述现状。两人的计划都将还款从收入的百分之十降至百分之五，这一数值甚至低于英国。拜登将把还款门槛提高到25000刀，并将停征免除债务税。布隆伯格希望免除攻读倒闭或敛财盈利型大学的助学贷款，并将停征超过57000刀贷款的免除税。2位候选人都考虑削减贷款高利率。
Note：
Enroll：to officially arrange to join a university or arrange to someone else to do this
Enroll for/on(British English ) enroll in (American English )
E :I decide to enroll in ‘art for beginners’
A reform agenda might also include the federal government’s lending to graduate students.Unlike that to undergraduates, this is unlimited. Though not a large source of debt distress, it may be fuelling a pointless and costly arms race among theaffluent. Governments have a part in helping finance higher education, the butwell-meaning policy can often go badly wrong.
改良议程或许也要包括联邦政府对毕业生的贷款。不像在读生，这一额度是无限的。虽然这不是债务危机的主要根源，但却可能引发富裕国家间的军备竞赛。政府在帮助高等教育融资中发挥着重要作用，但善意政策往往会犯严重的错误。
Note：
Affluent：have plenty of money and nice houses ,expensive things. SYN wealth
Enroll for/on(British English ) enroll in (American English )
E :I decide toenroll in ‘art for beginners’
