What’s the substantive difference? In both cases, the young person has taken out a debt intended to amplify earnings by more than the debt costs, but that isn’t going to happen. What does it matter whether the degree was of “any use” or not? What matters is whether it was enough use to cover the debt, not simply if there exist some gain in earnings due to the debt (which there probably is, though only via signaling, not direct enhancement of human capital).
What’s the substantive difference? In both cases, the young person has taken out a debt intended to amplify earnings by more than the debt costs, but that isn’t going to happen. What does it matter whether the degree was of “any use” or not? What matters is whether it was enough use to cover the debt, not simply if there exist some gain in earnings due to the debt (which there probably is, though only via signaling, not direct enhancement of human capital).
I was making a distinction between extreme bad judgment (as shown in the article) and moderately bad judgment and/or bad luck.
Your emphasis upthread seemed to be on how foolish that woman and her family were.