Debt's Dominion (eBook)

A History of Bankruptcy Law in America

David A. Skeel (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF | EPUB

2014
296 Seiten
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-1-4008-2850-0 (ISBN)

Infos

David A. Skeel, Jr. is a professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania and has written widely on corporate and bankruptcy issues.

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Bankruptcy in America, in stark contrast to its status in most other countries, typically signifies not a debtor's last gasp but an opportunity to catch one's breath and recoup. Why has the nation's legal system evolved to allow both corporate and individual debtors greater control over their fate than imaginable elsewhere? Masterfully probing the political dynamics behind this question, David Skeel here provides the first complete account of the remarkable journey American bankruptcy law has taken from its beginnings in 1800, when Congress lifted the country's first bankruptcy code right out of English law, to the present day. Skeel shows that the confluence of three forces that emerged over many years--an organized creditor lobby, pro-debtor ideological currents, and an increasingly powerful bankruptcy bar--explains the distinctive contours of American bankruptcy law. Their interplay, he argues in clear, inviting prose, has seen efforts to legislate bankruptcy become a compelling battle royale between bankers and lawyers--one in which the bankers recently seem to have gained the upper hand. Skeel demonstrates, for example, that a fiercely divided bankruptcy commission and the 1994 Republican takeover of Congress have yielded the recent, ideologically charged battles over consumer bankruptcy. The uniqueness of American bankruptcy has often been noted, but it has never been explained. As different as twenty-first century America is from the horse-and-buggy era origins of our bankruptcy laws, Skeel shows that the same political factors continue to shape our unique response to financial distress.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 24.4.2014
• Zusatzinfo: 4 tables
• Verlagsort: Princeton
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Recht / Steuern ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• Themenwelt: Recht / Steuern ► EU / Internationales Recht
• Themenwelt: Recht / Steuern ► Wirtschaftsrecht ► Bank- und Kapitalmarktrecht
• Themenwelt: Recht / Steuern ► Wirtschaftsrecht ► Handelsrecht
• Themenwelt: Wirtschaft ► Betriebswirtschaft / Management
• Schlagworte: Absolute Priority • Amendment • American Bankers Association • Appointee • Auction • Bankruptcy • Bankruptcy Act • Bankruptcy Act of 1898 • Bankruptcy discharge • Bankruptcy in the United States • behalf • Bill (law) • Bond (finance) • Brookings Institution • Business failure • capital structure • chairman • Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code • Columbia Law School • commerce clause • Commercial Law • Committee • Congressional Debate • Consideration • consumer • Consumer Debt • Consumer Protection • corporate action • Corporate Finance • Corporate Law • corporation • counsel • credit card • Credit (finance) • Creditor • debt • Debtor • Debt Overhang • Deliberation • Economics • Elizabeth Warren • Employment • Expense • federal judge • Filing (legal) • Financial Crisis • Financial Distress • foreclosure • Fraud • Harvard Law Review • Harvard Law School • Ideology • income • injunction • Insider • Insolvency • Interest Rate • Internal Revenue Service • Interstate Commerce Commission • Investor • J. P. Morgan • Jurisdiction • law firm • Law School • lawyer • Legislation • Legislative history • lobbying • mortgage loan • Payment • Personal bankruptcy • plaintiff • Political Economy • Political Science • Populism • Precedent • Provision (accounting) • Provision (contracting) • Public Choice • Receivership • Recession • repayment • repayment plan • repeal • Requirement • Restructuring • Securities Exchange Act of 1934 • Security interest • Shareholder • Small Business • sovereign default • State court (United States) • Statute • Tort • Trustee • Underwriting • Unsecured creditor • Unsecured debt • U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission • Voting
• ISBN-10: 1-4008-2850-3 / 1400828503
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4008-2850-0 / 9781400828500