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Debt Literacy: Konzeption und Messansatz zum Kreditwissen des Verbrauchers
by Maria Schneider-ReißigMaria Schneider-Reißig untersucht das Wissen und die Fähigkeiten von Verbrauchern im Umgang mit Krediten. Dies wird unter dem Begriff Debt Literacy subsumiert. Die Autorin erstellt ein Konzept für Debt Literacy, das auf Ergebnissen von Expertenbefragungen basiert. Mit einer Kreditwissensnorm veranschaulicht sie, was einen finanziell hinreichend gebildeten und kompetenten Verbraucher kennzeichnet. In einem von der Autorin entwickelten Leistungstest zum Kreditwissen kann ein Teil der kognitiven Fähigkeiten von Debt Literacy erfasst werden.
Debt Man Walking: A 10-Step Investment and Gearing Guide for Generation X
by Bruce BrammallThe key to wealth is... a four-letter word. Debt, growth assets and time are the perfect ingredients for Generation X to create real wealth. If you were born in the '60s or '70s, remember Billy Ray Cyrus, BMX Bandits, Sony Walkmans, the fall of the Berlin Wall, ‘Who Shot JR?', the dot-eating Pac-Man -- and you're wondering how any of that could improve your financial position -- then this book is wa-a-ay overdue. Debt Man Walking will have you marching to a different financial beat, because Gen X's money needs are distinctive. Inside this book you'll discover: how to maximise your opportunities using investment debt that there are actually three types of debt: dumb, okay and great that your ‘relative' youth + diversification = wealth how you can double your super nest egg in 15 minutes why life as a Gen Xer is an excellent adventure ... dude.
Debt Markets and Analysis (Bloomberg Financial #135)
by R. Stafford JohnsonAn accessible guide to the essential elements of debt markets and their analysis Debt Markets and Analysis provides professionals and finance students alike with an exposition on debt that will take them from the basic concepts, strategies, and fundamentals to a more detailed understanding of advanced approaches and models. Strong visual attributes include consistent elements that function as additional learning aids, such as: Key Points, Definitions, Step-by-Step, Do It Yourself, and Bloomberg functionality Offers a solid foundation in understanding the complexities and subtleties involved in the evaluation, selection, and management of debt Provides insights on taking the ideas covered and applying them to real-world investment decisions Engaging and informative, Debt Markets and Analysis provides practical guidance to excelling at this difficult endeavor.
Debt Markets and Analysis (Bloomberg Financial #135)
by R. Stafford JohnsonAn accessible guide to the essential elements of debt markets and their analysis Debt Markets and Analysis provides professionals and finance students alike with an exposition on debt that will take them from the basic concepts, strategies, and fundamentals to a more detailed understanding of advanced approaches and models. Strong visual attributes include consistent elements that function as additional learning aids, such as: Key Points, Definitions, Step-by-Step, Do It Yourself, and Bloomberg functionality Offers a solid foundation in understanding the complexities and subtleties involved in the evaluation, selection, and management of debt Provides insights on taking the ideas covered and applying them to real-world investment decisions Engaging and informative, Debt Markets and Analysis provides practical guidance to excelling at this difficult endeavor.
Debt Markets and Investments (Financial Markets and Investments)
by H. Kent Baker, Greg F I Lbeck and Andrew C. SpielerDebt Markets and Investments provides an overview of the dynamic world of markets, products, valuation, and analysis of fixed income and related securities. Experts in the field, practitioners and academics, offer both diverse and in-depth insights into basic concepts and their application to increasingly intricate and real-world situations. This volume spans the entire spectrum from theoretical to practical, while attempting to offer a useful balance of detailed and user-friendly coverage. The volume begins with the basics of debt markets and investments, including basic bond terminology and market sectors. Among the topics covered are the relationship between fixed income and other asset classes as well as the differences in fundamental risk. Particular emphasis is given to interest rate risk as well as credit risks as well as those associated with inflation, liquidity, reinvestment, and ESG. Authors then turn to market sectors, including government debt, municipal bonds, the markets for corporate bonds, and developments in securitized debt markets along with derivatives and private debt markets. The third section focuses on models of yield curves, interest rates, and swaps, including opportunities for arbitrage. The next two sections focus on bond and securitized products, from sovereign debt and mutual funds focused on bonds to how securitization has increased liquidity through such innovations as mortgaged-and asset- backed securities, as well as collateralized debt-, bond-, and loan obligations. Authors next discuss various methods of valuation of bonds and securities, including the use of options and derivatives. The volume concludes with discussions of how debt can play a role in financial strategies and portfolio creation. Readers interested in a broad survey will benefit as will those looking for more in-depth presentations of specific areas within this field of study. In summary, the book provides a fresh look at this intriguing and dynamic but often complex subject.
Debt Markets and Investments (Financial Markets and Investments)
Debt Markets and Investments provides an overview of the dynamic world of markets, products, valuation, and analysis of fixed income and related securities. Experts in the field, practitioners and academics, offer both diverse and in-depth insights into basic concepts and their application to increasingly intricate and real-world situations. This volume spans the entire spectrum from theoretical to practical, while attempting to offer a useful balance of detailed and user-friendly coverage. The volume begins with the basics of debt markets and investments, including basic bond terminology and market sectors. Among the topics covered are the relationship between fixed income and other asset classes as well as the differences in fundamental risk. Particular emphasis is given to interest rate risk as well as credit risks as well as those associated with inflation, liquidity, reinvestment, and ESG. Authors then turn to market sectors, including government debt, municipal bonds, the markets for corporate bonds, and developments in securitized debt markets along with derivatives and private debt markets. The third section focuses on models of yield curves, interest rates, and swaps, including opportunities for arbitrage. The next two sections focus on bond and securitized products, from sovereign debt and mutual funds focused on bonds to how securitization has increased liquidity through such innovations as mortgaged-and asset- backed securities, as well as collateralized debt-, bond-, and loan obligations. Authors next discuss various methods of valuation of bonds and securities, including the use of options and derivatives. The volume concludes with discussions of how debt can play a role in financial strategies and portfolio creation. Readers interested in a broad survey will benefit as will those looking for more in-depth presentations of specific areas within this field of study. In summary, the book provides a fresh look at this intriguing and dynamic but often complex subject.
Debt or Democracy: Public Money for Sustainability and Social Justice
by Mary MellorThis is a challenge to conventional thinking around money and the 'debt crisis'. By re-evaluating the source of money, Mary Mellor presents a radical alternative to austerity and privatisation: public wealth, or, money used for sustainability, sufficiency and social justice. *BR**BR*Debt or Democracy debunks the received lessons of the financial crisis of 2007. Political elites shout about a house whose finances are in disarray; a 'yawning deficit' created by reckless spending in a bloated public sector. The answer to this 'debt crisis' has been harsh austerity measures - but this is a dangerously deceptive discourse.*BR**BR*Turning against the prevalent narrative, with its language of 'debt' and 'deficit', Mellor takes on the familiar question - 'where does money come from?'. The real solution is a return to the notion of public wealth and the public economy; of a monetary system owned by, and operated in the interests of, the majority.
Debt or Democracy: Public Money for Sustainability and Social Justice
by Mary MellorThis is a challenge to conventional thinking around money and the 'debt crisis'. By re-evaluating the source of money, Mary Mellor presents a radical alternative to austerity and privatisation: public wealth, or, money used for sustainability, sufficiency and social justice. *BR**BR*Debt or Democracy debunks the received lessons of the financial crisis of 2007. Political elites shout about a house whose finances are in disarray; a 'yawning deficit' created by reckless spending in a bloated public sector. The answer to this 'debt crisis' has been harsh austerity measures - but this is a dangerously deceptive discourse.*BR**BR*Turning against the prevalent narrative, with its language of 'debt' and 'deficit', Mellor takes on the familiar question - 'where does money come from?'. The real solution is a return to the notion of public wealth and the public economy; of a monetary system owned by, and operated in the interests of, the majority.
Debt Relief for Poor Countries (Studies in Development Economics and Policy)
by T. Addison H. Hansen F. TarpAfter a massive international campaign calling attention to the development impact of foreign debt, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative is now underway. But will the HIPC Initiative meet its high expectations? Will debt relief substantially raise growth? How do we make sure that debt relief benefits poor people? And how can we ensure that poor countries do not become highly indebted again? These are some of the key policy issues covered in this rigorous and independent analysis of debt, development, and poverty.
Debt Relief for the Poorest Countries
by John E. Serieux and Yiagadeesen SamyThe debt problems of poor countries are receiving unprecedented attention. Both federal and non-governmental organizations alike have been campaigning for debt forgiveness for poor countries. The governments of creditor nations responded to that challenge at a meeting sponsored by the G-7, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank, all of which upgraded debt relief as a policy priority. Their initiatives provided for generous interpretations of these nations' abilities to sustain debt, gave them opportunities to qualify for debt relief more rapidly, and linked debt relief to broader policies of poverty reduction. Despite this, the crisis has only deepened in the first years of the new millennium. This brilliant group of contributions assesses why this has occurred. In plain language, it considers why debt relief has been so long in coming for poor countries. It evaluates the cost of a persistent overhang in debt for those countries. It also examines, head on, whether enhanced debt relief initiatives offer a permanent exit from over-indebtedness, or are merely a short-term respite. Above all, this volume for the first time addresses the issues on the ground: that is, the views and opinions about debt relief on the part of leaders in advanced nations, and the probability of further support for the most impoverished lands. In this approach, the editors and contributors have made an explicit and successful attempt to be inclusive and relevant at all stages of the analysis. This volume covers the full range of the poorest countries, with contributions by John Serieux, Lykke Anderson and Osvaldo Nina, Befekadu Degefe, Ligia Maria Castro-Monge, and Peter B. Mijumbi. Collectively, they offer a sobering scenario: unless measures are put in place now, in anticipation of further crises, the future of the very poorest nations will remain bleak and troublesome.
Debt Relief for the Poorest Countries
by Yiagadeesen SamyThe debt problems of poor countries are receiving unprecedented attention. Both federal and non-governmental organizations alike have been campaigning for debt forgiveness for poor countries. The governments of creditor nations responded to that challenge at a meeting sponsored by the G-7, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank, all of which upgraded debt relief as a policy priority. Their initiatives provided for generous interpretations of these nations' abilities to sustain debt, gave them opportunities to qualify for debt relief more rapidly, and linked debt relief to broader policies of poverty reduction. Despite this, the crisis has only deepened in the first years of the new millennium. This brilliant group of contributions assesses why this has occurred. In plain language, it considers why debt relief has been so long in coming for poor countries. It evaluates the cost of a persistent overhang in debt for those countries. It also examines, head on, whether enhanced debt relief initiatives offer a permanent exit from over-indebtedness, or are merely a short-term respite. Above all, this volume for the first time addresses the issues on the ground: that is, the views and opinions about debt relief on the part of leaders in advanced nations, and the probability of further support for the most impoverished lands. In this approach, the editors and contributors have made an explicit and successful attempt to be inclusive and relevant at all stages of the analysis. This volume covers the full range of the poorest countries, with contributions by John Serieux, Lykke Anderson and Osvaldo Nina, Befekadu Degefe, Ligia Maria Castro-Monge, and Peter B. Mijumbi. Collectively, they offer a sobering scenario: unless measures are put in place now, in anticipation of further crises, the future of the very poorest nations will remain bleak and troublesome.
Debt Relief Initiatives: Policy Design and Outcomes (Global Finance)
by Marco Arnone Andrea F. PresbiteroThis book deals with the recent debt crises in developing countries and analyzes the design and implementation of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, by providing background concepts, pointing out the main drawbacks and suggesting a different approach to debt sustainability and debt relief programs. The authors merge academic, operational and institutional expertise, in order to provide an evaluation as complete and balanced as possible on the much-debated effectiveness of debt relief in fostering economic growth, reducing poverty and reaching debt sustainability. Marco Arnone and Andrea F. Presbitero assess the joint evolution of external and domestic public debt and produce original empirical evidence on the potential effects of public debt on investment, economic growth and institution-building in low- and middle-income countries. The book also explores relevant and up-to-date policy issues, such as the loans-grants mix and the development of responsible lending strategies in foreign assistance, the surge of non-concessional and domestic borrowing by low-income countries, and the impact of the 2008-2009 global financial crisis on debt sustainability.
Debt Relief Initiatives: Policy Design and Outcomes (Global Finance)
by Marco Arnone Andrea F. PresbiteroThis book deals with the recent debt crises in developing countries and analyzes the design and implementation of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, by providing background concepts, pointing out the main drawbacks and suggesting a different approach to debt sustainability and debt relief programs. The authors merge academic, operational and institutional expertise, in order to provide an evaluation as complete and balanced as possible on the much-debated effectiveness of debt relief in fostering economic growth, reducing poverty and reaching debt sustainability. Marco Arnone and Andrea F. Presbitero assess the joint evolution of external and domestic public debt and produce original empirical evidence on the potential effects of public debt on investment, economic growth and institution-building in low- and middle-income countries. The book also explores relevant and up-to-date policy issues, such as the loans-grants mix and the development of responsible lending strategies in foreign assistance, the surge of non-concessional and domestic borrowing by low-income countries, and the impact of the 2008-2009 global financial crisis on debt sustainability.
Debt Restructuring
by Rodrigo Olivares-Caminal Randall Guynn Alan Kornberg Sarah Paterson Eric McLaughlin Dalvinder SinghThe new third edition of Debt Restructuring offers detailed legal analysis of international corporate, banking, and sovereign debt restructuring, from the perspective of creditors and debtors. It provides practical guidance to help practitioners, policy-makers, and academics in the UK and US to understand current developments in debt restructuring, and provides solutions for creditors holding distressed debt and debtor options in a distressed scenario. The Corporate Debt section includes significant changes to highlight the impact of COVID-19 on restructurings, including: potential grounds for investors/lenders to modify or terminate commitments to fund or support restructurings by invoking material adverse effect or force majeure clauses; unprecedented relief granted by insolvency courts to aid ailing retailers; and challenges facing insolvency courts in making necessary confirmation findings regarding the feasibility of reorganization plans due to market instability. This section also includes the recent adoption of the Part 26A Restructuring Plans and the EU Restructuring Directive. Amendments to the Bank Resolution section reflect decisions by the Single Resolution Board, and national authority resolution decisions notified to the European Banking Authority. A new sub-section on domestic bank insolvency and liquidation covers the developments under the Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive, and a new chapter on insolvency law relating to Insurance Firms addresses the international debate on a special resolution regime for insurance firms. Other updates include the 2017 code of practice, the 'third country' branch model after Brexit, non-equivalence regarding depositor protection arrangements, and the Resolvability Assessment Framework. In the Sovereign Debt section, there is detailed coverage of US and UK developments, examining the increased role of sanctions and the possibility of piercing the corporate veil in SoEs (Chrystallex), as well as the increased push for domestic laws to be used to curtail litigation. It also covers developments in re-designation and the emergence of the 'pac-man technique' in the context of collective action clauses, as a result of the recent restructurings of Argentina and Ecuador. The impact of COVID-19 on the adoption of the Debt Service Suspension Initiative and the Common Framework are also analysed.
Debt Restructuring
by Dalvinder Singh Sarah Paterson Rodrigo Olivares-Caminal Alan Kornberg Eric McLaughlinThe new third edition of Debt Restructuring offers detailed legal analysis of international corporate, banking, and sovereign debt restructuring, from the perspective of creditors and debtors. It provides practical guidance to help practitioners, policy-makers, and academics in the UK and US to understand current developments in debt restructuring, and provides solutions for creditors holding distressed debt and debtor options in a distressed scenario. The Corporate Debt section includes significant changes to highlight the impact of COVID-19 on restructurings, including: potential grounds for investors/lenders to modify or terminate commitments to fund or support restructurings by invoking material adverse effect or force majeure clauses; unprecedented relief granted by insolvency courts to aid ailing retailers; and challenges facing insolvency courts in making necessary confirmation findings regarding the feasibility of reorganization plans due to market instability. This section also includes the recent adoption of the Part 26A Restructuring Plans and the EU Restructuring Directive. Amendments to the Bank Resolution section reflect decisions by the Single Resolution Board, and national authority resolution decisions notified to the European Banking Authority. A new sub-section on domestic bank insolvency and liquidation covers the developments under the Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive, and a new chapter on insolvency law relating to Insurance Firms addresses the international debate on a special resolution regime for insurance firms. Other updates include the 2017 code of practice, the 'third country' branch model after Brexit, non-equivalence regarding depositor protection arrangements, and the Resolvability Assessment Framework. In the Sovereign Debt section, there is detailed coverage of US and UK developments, examining the increased role of sanctions and the possibility of piercing the corporate veil in SoEs (Chrystallex), as well as the increased push for domestic laws to be used to curtail litigation. It also covers developments in re-designation and the emergence of the 'pac-man technique' in the context of collective action clauses, as a result of the recent restructurings of Argentina and Ecuador. The impact of COVID-19 on the adoption of the Debt Service Suspension Initiative and the Common Framework are also analysed.
A Debt Restructuring Mechanism for Sovereigns: Do We Need a Legal Procedure?
by Christoph G. PaulusThe Eurozone crisis which started in spring 2010 as a Greek budget crisis has alerted Europeans that the issue of defaulting sovereigns is not one reserved just for the poor and poorest countries on this globe. The crisis painfully amplified that developed countries, too, might be hit by this phenomenon. To be sure, this insight is far from novel - the history of defaulting states reaches back into history for at least two millennia. And yet, lawyers have surprisingly abstained more or less completely from discussing this subject and developing possible solutions. Beginning with the Argentina crisis in 2001, this neglect began to vanish to a certain degree and this movement got some momentum in 2010 by the Eurozone crisis. The present book collects contributions from authors most of whom have participated in a conference on this issue in January 2012 at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The presentations, thus, provide a unique overview of the present discussion both from an economic and legal perspective.
A Debt Restructuring Mechanism for Sovereigns: Do We Need a Legal Procedure?
by Christoph G. PaulusThe Eurozone crisis which started in spring 2010 as a Greek budget crisis has alerted Europeans that the issue of defaulting sovereigns is not one reserved just for the poor and poorest countries on this globe. The crisis painfully amplified that developed countries, too, might be hit by this phenomenon. To be sure, this insight is far from novel - the history of defaulting states reaches back into history for at least two millennia. And yet, lawyers have surprisingly abstained more or less completely from discussing this subject and developing possible solutions. Beginning with the Argentina crisis in 2001, this neglect began to vanish to a certain degree and this movement got some momentum in 2010 by the Eurozone crisis. The present book collects contributions from authors most of whom have participated in a conference on this issue in January 2012 at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The presentations, thus, provide a unique overview of the present discussion both from an economic and legal perspective.
Debt Sustainability of Subnational Governments in India: Lessons from International Debt Crises
by Hari Krishna DwivediIn 2020, for the first time in history, the world's debt as a percentage of its gross domestic product exceeded 100%. Although it has come down slightly since then, there are concerns about where the next debt crisis will happen, given that Pakistan and Sri Lanka have already found themselves in debt crises. India's overall fiscal health and macro-economic conditions remain stable, but the same may not be completely true when the discussion shifts to India's subnational entities. In Debt Sustainability of Subnational Governments in India: Lessons from International Debt Crises, Dwivedi attempts to answer this question by analysing the debt sustainability of the states in the context of many emerging issues and challenges to their fiscal health with the aim of providing usable and practical recommendations that can ensure the fiscal health of the subnational governments in India and across the world. Focusing on the state or provincial governments, Dwivedi addresses the debt that the government undertakes to fund its programmes and examines whether such governments are indulging in taking excessive debt. Some of the aspects covered in the book include international experiences with excessive borrowings or debt creation and the learnings from these experiences, trends of state government debt (subnational debt), emerging issues that pose challenges to state finances, and recommendations to control debt from spiralling out of control.
Debt Sustainability of Subnational Governments in India: Lessons from International Debt Crises
by Hari Krishna DwivediIn 2020, for the first time in history, the world's debt as a percentage of its gross domestic product exceeded 100%. Although it has come down slightly since then, there are concerns about where the next debt crisis will happen, given that Pakistan and Sri Lanka have already found themselves in debt crises. India's overall fiscal health and macro-economic conditions remain stable, but the same may not be completely true when the discussion shifts to India's subnational entities. In Debt Sustainability of Subnational Governments in India: Lessons from International Debt Crises, Dwivedi attempts to answer this question by analysing the debt sustainability of the states in the context of many emerging issues and challenges to their fiscal health with the aim of providing usable and practical recommendations that can ensure the fiscal health of the subnational governments in India and across the world. Focusing on the state or provincial governments, Dwivedi addresses the debt that the government undertakes to fund its programmes and examines whether such governments are indulging in taking excessive debt. Some of the aspects covered in the book include international experiences with excessive borrowings or debt creation and the learnings from these experiences, trends of state government debt (subnational debt), emerging issues that pose challenges to state finances, and recommendations to control debt from spiralling out of control.
Debtor Nation: The History of America in Red Ink
by Louis HymanBefore the twentieth century, personal debt resided on the fringes of the American economy, the province of small-time criminals and struggling merchants. By the end of the century, however, the most profitable corporations and banks in the country lent money to millions of American debtors. How did this happen? The first book to follow the history of personal debt in modern America, Debtor Nation traces the evolution of debt over the course of the twentieth century, following its transformation from fringe to mainstream--thanks to federal policy, financial innovation, and retail competition. How did banks begin making personal loans to consumers during the Great Depression? Why did the government invent mortgage-backed securities? Why was all consumer credit, not just mortgages, tax deductible until 1986? Who invented the credit card? Examining the intersection of government and business in everyday life, Louis Hyman takes the reader behind the scenes of the institutions that made modern lending possible: the halls of Congress, the boardrooms of multinationals, and the back rooms of loan sharks. America's newfound indebtedness resulted not from a culture in decline, but from changes in the larger structure of American capitalism that were created, in part, by the choices of the powerful--choices that made lending money to facilitate consumption more profitable than lending to invest in expanded production. From the origins of car financing to the creation of subprime lending, Debtor Nation presents a nuanced history of consumer credit practices in the United States and shows how little loans became big business.
Debtor Nation: The History of America in Red Ink (PDF)
by Louis HymanBefore the twentieth century, personal debt resided on the fringes of the American economy, the province of small-time criminals and struggling merchants. By the end of the century, however, the most profitable corporations and banks in the country lent money to millions of American debtors. How did this happen? The first book to follow the history of personal debt in modern America, Debtor Nation traces the evolution of debt over the course of the twentieth century, following its transformation from fringe to mainstream--thanks to federal policy, financial innovation, and retail competition. How did banks begin making personal loans to consumers during the Great Depression? Why did the government invent mortgage-backed securities? Why was all consumer credit, not just mortgages, tax deductible until 1986? Who invented the credit card? Examining the intersection of government and business in everyday life, Louis Hyman takes the reader behind the scenes of the institutions that made modern lending possible: the halls of Congress, the boardrooms of multinationals, and the back rooms of loan sharks. America's newfound indebtedness resulted not from a culture in decline, but from changes in the larger structure of American capitalism that were created, in part, by the choices of the powerful--choices that made lending money to facilitate consumption more profitable than lending to invest in expanded production. From the origins of car financing to the creation of subprime lending, Debtor Nation presents a nuanced history of consumer credit practices in the United States and shows how little loans became big business.
A Debtor World: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Debt
A Debtor World contains a collection of contributions about the societal implications of private debt. The essays comprising this volume are authored by dozens of leading U.S. and international academics who have written about debt or issues related to debt in a wide range of disciplines including law, sociology, psychology, history, economics, and more. The goal of this collection is to explore debt neither as a problem nor a solution but as a phenomenon and to promote the exchange of knowledge to better comprehend why consumers and businesses decide to borrow money. It asks what happens to businesses and consumers under a heavy debt load, and what legal norms and institutions societies need to encourage the efficient use of debt while promoting a greater understanding of the global phenomenon of increased indebtedness and societal dependence.
Debt's Dominion: A History of Bankruptcy Law in America
by David A. Skeel Jr.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.
Debt's Dominion: A History of Bankruptcy Law in America (PDF)
by David A. Skeel Jr.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.
Debunkery: Learn It, Do It, and Profit from It -- Seeing Through Wall Street's Money-Killing Myths
by Kenneth L. FisherLegendary money manager Ken Fisher outlines the most common—and costly—mistakes investors make. Small cap stocks are best for all time. Bunk! A trade deficit is bad for markets. Bunk! Stocks can't rise on high unemployment. Bunk! Many investors think they are safest following widely accepted Wall Street wisdom—but much of Wall Street wisdom isn't so wise. In fact, it can be costly bunk. In Debunkery: Learn It, Do It, and Profit From It—Seeing Through Wall Street's Money-Killing Myths, Ken Fisher—named one of the 30 most influential individuals of the last three decades by Investment Advisor magazine—details why so many investors fail to get the long-term results they desire. The short answer is many investors fail to question if what they believe is true—and are therefore blinded by tradition, biases, ideology, or any number of cognitive errors. Your goal as an investor shouldn't be to be error-free—that's impossible. Rather, to be more successful, you should aim to lower your error rate. Debunkery gets you started by debunking 50 common myths—but that's just the beginning. It also gives you the tools you need to continue to do your own debunkery for the rest of your investing career.