As I understand it:

Hyper-inflation or any inflation less than hyper-type, is NOT a worry for you. The amount of monies you owe (your student loans) will not increase as inflation hits. The interest rates may pose a problem but the principles won't change and the interest rates won't change unless you agreed to "adjustable rates". It would mean that you are actually paying off the debt at a present rate of $0.80 cents on the dollar owed, or $0.60 on each dollar owed. As INFLATION affects the economy, your earnings will go up! Your pre-inflation debts will remain the same! As Dan Akroyd's SNL skit stated, "Think of inflation, as your friend" Circa: late 70's/early 80's.

DEFLATION is what we ALL have to worry about because the amount of monies owed will not deflate even though most of our paychecks (those of us who still have a job left) will DRAMATICALLY DECREASE. The value of a dollar suddenly increases to the present value of a $5, or $10, or $20 bill's purchasing power of today! This is what shuts businesses down, they suddenly owe more money than they are taking in, partly because all business comes to a standstill for awhile, and then as business does start to recover, the fees that can be charged for goods and/or services has dropped dramatically, thus profits drop dramatically (read the numbers owed versus the numbers that can be earned).

Rapid DEFLATION is what causes a DEPRESSION! By all opinions, (I have only a Layman's basic understanding of economics), the market is way overdue for an adjustment and that adjustment is PROBABLY going to make the Great Depression look like a Sunday School Picnic.

I recall that John David Rockefeller was the only person who didn't lose money on the stock market. A few days before the CRASH, the elevator operator in his building, gave him a "hot stock tip" while taking JDR up to his business suite. JDR thanked the man nicely as he got off of the elevator w/his entourage. When the doors had closed, JDR turned to his entourage and instructed them to sell every bit of stock that he owned, immediately! When questioned why, he replied, "It is time to get out of the Stock Market when an Elevator Operator has "Hot Stock Tips" to share. His business losses were minimized while he sat quietly through the bottoming out period and business started to recover.

By the way, Coca-Cola was the only business that did not lose money when the depression hit!!

Yes, I still owe way too much money, to too many people, to be comfortable about what knowledgable people's opinions on this subject are that have been expressed, publicly!