The large increase in the college premium has led many policymakers and educators to advocate college for all. But as the high college dropout rate indicates, there is a big difference between enrolling in college and graduating.
The spreads over German bonds have also increased notably, but remain far below the highest levels during the euro area debt crisis. A certain increase in spreads is justified, after their policy-induced compression over the last few years. However, if financial fragmentation were to become excessive, then this would endanger the proper transmission of monetary policy throughout the euro area.