Total US student loan debt has reached almost $1 trillion, with $85 billion being delinquent in 2011. Subsidized loans for education have led to rapid growth in costs similar to how government subsidies drove up housing prices and ownership rates unsustainably. Farmland values in Saskatchewan, which holds 40% of Canada's arable land, increased by an average of 10.1% in the second half of 2011 and 21% overall for the year, mirroring increases seen in major US farming states, fueled by strong commodity prices, historically slower growth than other areas, and good growing conditions.

1. April 24, 2012
Charts That Count
US Student Loans - See Any Similarities to the US Housing Market?
$1 trillion (yes with a "t") and counting. US student loans are a prime candidate to be the source of
a future financial crisis with the predictable QE response, bank bail-outs and all around money
supply shenanigans. It is estimated that $85 billion in student debt was delinquent in Q3 of
2011. The use of debt to fund post-secondary education in the US has risen sharply over the
years:
Total U.S. student-loan debt has reached almost $1 trillion.
None of this will come as a surprise to those acquainted with the basic economic concept that you

2. get more of whatever you subsidize and typically at higher than market clearing prices. So in the
same way that artificially low interest rates and risk subsidies from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
drove home ownership rates and prices to unsustainable levels, subsidized loans to students have
lead to the rapid growth in what can only be described as the diploma mill business while at the
same time pushing the cost of such education to stratospheric levels.
Saskatchewan Farmland Values Increase 21% in 2011?
According to the recently released report on farmland values issued by Farm Credit Canada "In the
second half of 2011, farmland values in Saskatchewan increased an average of 10.1%, the highest
average increase across Canada. This followed gains of 11.6% and 2.7% in the previous two
reporting periods, continuing the decade-long trend of price increases that began in 2002. In
Saskatchewan, farmland values increased by an average of 1.8% per month in 2011. The results in
Saskatchewan, which has 40% of Canada's arable land, appear to mirror what's occurring in the
United States, where double-digit increases in farmland values have been reported in several corn
and soybean states."
"The ongoing strength of commodity prices combined with a land market that had historically
increased at a slower rate than in other areas of the country are two contributing factors to the
current value increase. The rising values are also attributed to good seeding and harvest conditions
in most areas of the province, coupled with low interest rates."
Regards
Agcapita
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