WALTER RUSSELL MEAD ON THE LEGAL EDUCATION BUBBLE: First, let’s indenture all the lawyers.

In other words, for many young Americans, going to law school will mean literally signing away their financial independence for the rest of their adult lives. They will spend the next twenty-five years of their lives (if they never earn more than their Income-Based Repayment amount) — ten years if they work in public service — servicing debt they incurred for a skill that didn’t pay off. They might spend even longer before they are ever in the clear if they took those federal loans out before 2009 (when IBR kicked in), or if they have high interest private loans.

This isn’t just a problem for the people involved. The result is a situation no one wants: young people who aren’t in a financial position to make major steps in life — marriage, purchasing a home, having children, or saving for retirement — because they spend the majority of their life financing a decision they made at 22.

Read the whole thing — especially if you’re considering law school. I wouldn’t advise people not to go to law school, necessarily, but I would advise almost anyone to avoid taking on significant debt to do so.