Which editor at the Washington Post owes Blaine Harden money?

I ask this question because a personal debt is the only possible explanation for why Harden landed a front-page story in today’s WaPo about whether Starbucks is bankrupting America’s highly educated youth: At a Starbucks across the street from Seattle University School of Law, Kirsten Daniels crams for the bar exam. She’s armed with color-coded ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

I ask this question because a personal debt is the only possible explanation for why Harden landed a front-page story in today's WaPo about whether Starbucks is bankrupting America's highly educated youth:

I ask this question because a personal debt is the only possible explanation for why Harden landed a front-page story in today’s WaPo about whether Starbucks is bankrupting America’s highly educated youth:

At a Starbucks across the street from Seattle University School of Law, Kirsten Daniels crams for the bar exam. She’s armed with color-coded pens, a don’t-mess-with-me crease in her brow and what she calls “my comfort latte.” She just graduated summa cum laude, after three years of legal training that left her $115,000 in debt. Part of that debt, which she will take a decade to repay with interest, was run up at Starbucks, where she buys her lattes. The habit costs her nearly $3 a day, and it’s one that her law school says she and legions like her cannot afford…. “A latte a day on borrowed money? It’s crazy,” said Erika Lim, director of career services at the law school.

Absolutely correct, it’s a waste of money…. unless you believe that gourmet coffee generates efficiency improvements in human capital formation…. and student loans usually have lower-than-average interest rates…. and the income boost provided by law school massively outweighs the cost of Starbucks consumption…. and question whether after racking up over $115,000 in debt, it’s really the extra thousand or two rom coffee consumption that affects career choices… and you believe Harden’s underlying, unproven premise that too many students consume too many lattes. I could go on, or ask caffienne addict Brad DeLong or Starbuck enthusiast Virginia Postrel to go on, but I see that David Adesnik has already addressed this issue — go check him out.

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

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