Our interns and research students are smart, fun, active, and presentable. Some have come from the MSU Honors program, others from the Ivies or other top schools such as Duke or University of Virginia. They work hard and enjoy our conferences with federal judges, seminary professors, and other religious leaders. Nearly all go on to law or graduate school. Their prospects seem bright indeed.

During our introductory sessions I have always asked them this: “Has anyone told you this is the best time of your life?” And, of course, they respond with some version of “Oh yes! I hear this all the time.”

I’ve delighted in predicting this; whoever told you this is the best time of your life is probably wrong. Given your achievements and talents, unless you’re hit by lighting, select a sorry mate, make a bad job choice, or suffer some random misfortune, your future will be more rewarding, satisfying, enjoyable, and constructive than your time in college. Really! It’s great to be a full adult with genuine responsibilities. This is especially true if you’re lucky enough to live in Montana.

Alas, this year I can’t give this introduction. Circumstances have changed, gradually and relentlessly. Only the final sentence remains true. There are several complementary, mutually reinforcing reasons why. In sum, today’s future isn’t as bright for students as it was for my generation or recent ones.

Part of it is simple demography. In the 1970s and 80s, students were flooding colleges and businesses were booming. When Ramona and I left graduate school, our colleagues and we had a wealth of job opportunities. Two of mine chose to teach at Yale, others at Big Ten schools. Some joined corporations. The problem was picking which offer to accept. For today’s students the set of opportunities has diminished a great deal.

The next negative involves the economics of higher education. For several decades the price of higher education has risen even more rapidly than health care. Like medical costs, this increase is largely an artifact of public policies. These ultimately victimize students by shifting costs toward them.

Today the average undergraduate student leaves school with $20,000 in student loans. Professional training such as law or medicine multiplies that substantial sum. In contrast, during the 1960s we were paid to attend grad school through fellowships and assistantships.

An additional problem facing today’s students, none of whom are immune, is the perverse logic of political promises. Here’s the strategy. Politicians promise benefits to gain votes. Costs are deliberately hidden and deferred.

Today the federal debt limit is just over $14 trillion. Adding in the unfunded liabilities of Medicare and Social Security national obligations are well over $100 trillion. If we add in state and local commitments, when today’s students have college age children, governments will consume 60 percent of everything produced. Under any scenario, this is a crushing burden to incomes and liberties. It will follow that politicians will break the promises of their predecessors. Things that can’t go on won’t.

High taxes, stifling regulations, and international competition will thwart entrepreneurial success in the private, productive sector. America won’t prosper and add good jobs as before. Hence, government positions will attract some of America’s best talent, individuals such as FREE’s interns.

Yes, this surely will occur. However, new entries won’t enjoy nearly the benefits of those now working for state and local governments. Citizens see excesses and ultimately rebel. Here are some extreme examples.

California has over 12,000 retirees receiving at least $100,000 year in state benefits. New York is similar. It seems unjust and is surely unsustainable. Such excess taints public employment. As a result of past unseemly commitments, new hires will receive far less.

While the best young people will do well as compared to their less fortunate compatriots, their futures are ever less promising. This may well be the best time of their lives.