A little perspective is in order for some of the recent pieces of criticism regarding the plan by Congress to ease the debt many students face upon completion of college.  Among the arguments put forward by these critics eager to shoulder college grads with debt is the supposedly daunting price tag of halving the interest rates (which were recently raised by the previous Republican Congress) from 6.8% to 3.4%. 

Economist Dean Baker asks, "Is this a lot of money or a little money? Well, CBO typically makes budget projections over a 10-year horizon. If this was a 10-year projection (I have no idea), then the projected annual cost is $600 million or approximately 0.02 percent of projected spending over this period. Or, put another way, it's about what we spend on the Iraq War every day."