Unresolved sovereign debt problems are hurting debtor nations, their citizens and their creditors, and also can pose serious systemic threats to the international financial system. The existing contractual restructuring approach is insufficient to make sovereign debt sustainable. Although a more...

Unresolved sovereign debt problems and disruptive litigation are hurting debtor nations and their citizens, as well as their creditors. A default can also pose a serious systemic threat to the international financial system. Yet the existing “contractual” approach to sovereign debt...

The recent financial woes of Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and other nations have reinvigorated the debate over whether to bail out defaulting countries or, instead, restructure their debt. Bailouts are expensive, both for residents of the nation being bailed out and for parties providing the...

Whether or not their fault, nations sometimes borrow at levels that become unsustainable. Until resolved, the resulting debt burden hurts not only those nations but also their citizens, their creditors, and — by posing serious systemic risks to the international financial system — the wider...

This article systematically examines sovereign debt restructuring in light of bankruptcy reorganization law principles. It proposes that a simple and arguably practical convention, based on just three of these principles, would encourage free market funding of troubled States, thereby avoiding...