Debt’s Dominion: A New Epilogue

This Essay, written for the “Who Governs Debt’s Dominion” symposium, looks back on Debt’s Dominion: A History of Bankruptcy Law in America as the twenty-fifth anniversary of the book’s publication nears. The Essay begins, in Part I, by briefly describing how Debt’s Dominion came about. Part II identifies and seeks to explain a striking decline in optimism about American bankruptcy law since Debt’s Dominion was first published. Part III explores a few of the major recent developments in consumer bankruptcy, small business bankruptcy, and large-scale corporate reorganization that I would have analyzed in the book if it were written today.

Part IV briefly considers the impact of globalization and concludes the new epilogue.