24 Britain TheEconomistApril30th 2022
broadcasting regulator which enforces
rules on impartiality, but it has largely
flopped in the ratings.
The lukewarm reception for gbNews
might seem like a bad signal for another
talkingheads channel. But Talktv has
some important advantages. The first is
the sheer volume of journalism that News
uk, the British arm of News Corp, already
produces. As well as TalkRadio (a phonein
station whose shows are being simulcast
on the new channel), its athletic sibling
TalkSport and the higherbrow Times Ra
dio, the firm publishes newspapers includ
ing the Timesand the Sun. “The journalistic
talent that is already inside the building in
News ukcan be deployed in ever more
ways,” says Douglas McCabe of Enders
Analysis, a research firm.
Second, Talktvis focusing heavily on
online platforms. Presenters sound off to
camera, creating viral content alongside
which the channel hopes to sell advertis
ing. A shift to social platforms has helped
lbc, TalkRadio’s biggest commercial rival.
Videos of its presenters and guests travel
much further on social media than audio
clips do, helping to make it Britain’s fast
estgrowing talkradio station.
In Mr Morgan, Talktvhas a third big as
set. The presenter has a knack for specta
cle. An average of 317,000 people watched
his interview with Mr Trump (more will
have seen it online). That is double the
number who tuned in to the bbc’s news
channel at the same time, and almost a
third more than watched the launch of gb
News. Nic Newman of the Reuters Institute
for the Study of Journalism at Oxford Uni
versity notes that although viewers often
tell surveys that they value impartiality in
news, the success of stations such as lbc
shows the importance of entertainment,
too. If Talktvcan get the mix right,ithas a
shot at persuading Britons to abandon
more restrained news channels.nNo tears for PiersHighereducationBook value
M
orethana millionEnglishstudents
takeouta studentloaneachyear.But
forthepastdecadetheterm“studentloan”
hasbeena misnomer.Formost,theagree
mentworksmorelikea graduatetaxwith
anexpirydate.Graduatespay9%oftheir
earnings aboveacertainthreshold (cur
rently£27,295,or$34,695,a year)towards
repayingtheirdebt.Anythingstillowing
after 30 yearsiswrittenoff.
FromSeptember 2023 thissystemisset
tochange.TheDepartmentforEducation
(dfe) announceda suiteofreformsearlier
thisyear.Theyrangefromtheeyecatching
(forgiving thedebtafter 40 yearsrather
than30)tothewonkish(loweringtheearn
ingsthresholdandchangingthewayitis
indexed).Takentogether,theyamountto
the biggest overhaul ofstudent finance
sincetuitionfeesweretripledin2012.Ben
WaltmannoftheInstituteforFiscalStud
ies,a thinktank,estimatesthatunderthe
newsystem,nearlythreequartersofgrad
uateswillrepaytheirdebtinfull,upfrom
onlya quarterundertheoldone.
Forthecohortstartinguniversitynext
year,thechangeswillmeana bigredistri
butionofwhopayswhattowardshigher
education(seerighthandchart).Lesspu
nitive interest rates for higher earners
meanthatthoseinthetopdecileoflife
time earnings can expect to pay back
£25,000lessthan underthecurrent ar
rangement.Meanwhile,theextendedre
payment term and the lower earnings
threshold mean that lower and middle
earners will pay more:around £30,000
moreforthoseinthethirdincomedecile.Thereformshavemuchtorecommend
them. There is some evidence that the
prospectoftakingondebthasa deterrent
effectonpeoplefrompoorerbackgrounds
whoareconsideringgoingtouniversity.
Buttheearningsthresholdcontinues to
protectpeoplefromrepaymentsuntilthey
are pocketing acertain wage.Taxpayers
willsave£2.8bnforeachuniversitycohort.
Incentiveschangeingoodways:encourag
ingstudentstopicksubjectsthatwillin
creasetheir lifetimeearningsisinboth
theirandtheeconomy’sinterests.
But thechanges fail to fixsome big
shortcomings in thecurrent setup.Mr
Waltmann points out that maintenance
support,loanstohelppayforlivingcosts,
isnowfallingfastinrealterms.Payments
arebasedonoldforecastsofretailpricein
dex (rpi) inflation that underestimated
howquicklytheindexwouldrise.Hecal
culates that students from the poorest
families will receive£100 amonth less
thantheywouldhavedonehadtheirsup
portbeenlinkedtoactualrpiinflation.At
thesametime,interestratesforexisting
borrowersaresettosoarinSeptember.Al
thoughthedfemustcaptheseinlinewith
commercialrates,ittypicallydoessowith
a sixmonthdelay.Forhigherearners,that
implieshalfa yearofpaying12%interest,
nearlydoublethecommercialrate.
Worse,aswellaschangingtherulesfor
futurestudents,thereformsalsorewrite
repaymenttermsfortheroughly3.5mpeo
plewhohavetakenoutloanssince2012.A
frozen earnings threshold will increase
theirmonthlyrepaymentsfromthisSep
tember,justastherisingcostoflivingreal
lystartstobite.Linkingthisthresholdin
thefuturetotherpi, a flawedmeasureof
inflationthatissettobereformed,bakes
infurtheruncertainty.Thesechangesdo
notjusthurtexistingborrowersinevery
earningsdecile(seelefthandchart),but
alsoriskdeterringfuturestudents.Why
takeoutaloanifthetermscanchange
wheneverthegovernmentwants? nStudentfinanceisgettingyet
anotheroverhaulLearning and earning
Britain, estimated lifetime gain/loss from student-loan reforms, by university entry year, £’000Source:InstituteforFiscalStudies *2023 onlyNetchange40200-20-40-60
9876 4321 10 Average2022←Poorer Earningsdecile Richer→40200-20-40-60
9876 4321 10 Average2023Threshold changes Continuingfeefreeze Extended repayment term* Lower interest rate*← Poorer Earnings decile Richer →