The U.S. government stands to lose more than $400 billion from the federal student loans

After decades of no-questions-asked lending, the government is realizing that it has a pile of toxic debt on its books. By comparison, private lenders lost $535 billion on subprime-mortgages during the 2008 financial crisis,

The effect this time is different. 

The government, unlike private lenders, can borrow trillions of dollars at low rates to absorb the losses, without causing a panic. But taxpayers will end up paying a price because Congress will have to raise taxes, cut services or increase the deficit to cover the losses.

WSJ 21 November 2020

https://www.wsj.com/articles/student-loan-losses-seen-costing-u-s-more-than-400-billion-11605963600

The Financial Crisis: 10 Years Later

https://www.wsj.com/news/collection/financial-crisis-10-years-later-81622936