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Full-Text Articles in Law
Equitable Subordination, Fraudulent Transfer, And Sovereign Debt, Adam Feibelman
Equitable Subordination, Fraudulent Transfer, And Sovereign Debt, Adam Feibelman
Law and Contemporary Problems
Feibelman focuses on two particular doctrines of lender liability-equitable subordination and fraudulent transfer, expanding upon proposals to employ private domestic law as a strategy for addressing the problem of odious debt. Although doctrines of equitable subordination and fraudulent transfer do not appear to have been applied to sovereign debt by US courts in the past, both should be available to sovereigns' creditors in most if not all US jurisdictions. In addition, he also addresses practical, doctrinal concerns as well as normative implications of employing theories such as equitable subordination and fraudulent transfer to respond to the problem of odious debt. …
Odious Debt Wears Two Faces: Systemic Illegitimacy, Problems, And Opportunities In Traditional Odious Debt Conceptions In Globalized Economic Regimes, Larry Catá Backer
Odious Debt Wears Two Faces: Systemic Illegitimacy, Problems, And Opportunities In Traditional Odious Debt Conceptions In Globalized Economic Regimes, Larry Catá Backer
Law and Contemporary Problems
Backer examines how the traditional notion of odious debt as a method of repudiating sovereign debt may undergo a conceptual revolution as it changes focus from the illegitimacy of governments obtaining loans to the illegitimacy of the systems through which such loans are made and enforced generally. He focus his analysis on the conceptual framework Fidel Castro sought to introduce into the debate about the legitimacy of sovereign debt and the extent to which this reframing might influence international institutional approaches.
Odious Debt In Retrospect, Daniel K. Tarullo
Odious Debt In Retrospect, Daniel K. Tarullo
Law and Contemporary Problems
In the eighty years since Alexander Sack coined the phrase "odious debt," academics and activists have periodically rediscovered Sack's idea, often arguing for its application or extension-to this point, in vain. Here, Tarullo reveals the degree to which current interest in the problem of odious debt is intertwined with other problems that strike more critically at the well-being of developing-and emerging-market countries. He reasons that the necessarily complex effort needed to institutionalize a doctrine of odious debt is a potentially effective organizing principle for generating the political will to address these other persistent, debilitating problems.
Sovereign Debt Restructuring, Odious Debt, And The Politics Of Debt Relief, Robert K. Rasmussen
Sovereign Debt Restructuring, Odious Debt, And The Politics Of Debt Relief, Robert K. Rasmussen
Law and Contemporary Problems
Odious debt is more of a literature than a doctrine. Going back to at least the 1920s, one can find arguments that countries should not have to pay back debts that are labeled "odious." The central intuition is that the citizens of a country should not have to pay for the debts incurred by a prior "odious" regime when those funds did not benefit these citizens. It is simply not right to ask people to pay for funds from which they did not benefit, especially when the lender knew of this fact when it made its loan. Here, Rasmussen comments …
Agency By Analogy: A Comment On Odious Debt, Deborah A. Demott
Agency By Analogy: A Comment On Odious Debt, Deborah A. Demott
Law and Contemporary Problems
DeMott focuses on how one might think about the phenomenon of odious debt from the standpoint of common-law agency. Though this analogy has its flaws, some useful insights can be gathered by examining the similarities and differences between the two doctrines, especially when contemplating the theory of liability in the sovereign context. To illustrate the complexity of comparing odious debt to agency law, she develops a series of comparisons between the consequences of borrowing by a sovereign and that by a private corporation afflicted with inept or corrupt management.
Odious Debt, Old And New: The Legal Intellectual History Of An Idea, James V. Feinerman
Odious Debt, Old And New: The Legal Intellectual History Of An Idea, James V. Feinerman
Law and Contemporary Problems
In a sense, all debts are odious; that is, to use dictionary definitions, "hateful; disgusting; offensive." Yet insofar as international economic law today is concerned, only a certain few debts can be considered "odious debts" in order to contest and perhaps eventually to repudiate them. Here, Feinerman examines the concepts of odious debt and related international legal phenomena, in both historical and contemporary context, with a view of determining the role that denomination of certain debts as odious may play in the overall process of sovereign debt rescheduling.
Odious, Illegitimate, Illegal, Or Legal Debts—What Difference Does It Make For International Chapter 9 Debt Arbitration?, Kunibert Raffer
Odious, Illegitimate, Illegal, Or Legal Debts—What Difference Does It Make For International Chapter 9 Debt Arbitration?, Kunibert Raffer
Law and Contemporary Problems
Once upon a time, sovereign debts were just that-debts or the entitlement to be repaid fully, including interest. During the 1970s it was thought unnecessary to make any distinctions between debts, based on the assumption that sovereigns might possibly become illiquid, but could never become insolvent. Commercial banks disregarded the most elementary rules of prudent banking, including their duty of due diligence as lenders, laboring on the assumption that whatever flowed into developing countries would eventually flow back with fees and interest. Here, Raffer discusses the international dchapter nine debt arbitration.
Insolvency Principles And The Odious Debt Doctrine: The Missing Link In The Debate, A. Mechele Dickerson
Insolvency Principles And The Odious Debt Doctrine: The Missing Link In The Debate, A. Mechele Dickerson
Law and Contemporary Problems
Politicians as well as many members of the international human-rights community, view the odious debt doctrine as fundamentally unfair that the Iraqi people may be saddled with the debts Saddam Hussein's brutal regime incurred. Furthermore, some in the human-rights community generally argue that rich (creditor) countries have a moral duty or obligation to protect citizens of poor (debtor) countries and that richer nations should forgive the debts of poorer nations to help reduce existing inequalities between developed and developing countries. Here, Dickerson evaluates the doctrine of odious debts using the insolvency framework found in the United States Bankruptcy Code.
Odious, Not Debt, Anna Gelpern
Odious, Not Debt, Anna Gelpern
Law and Contemporary Problems
The US invasion of Iraq in 2003 revived public and academic debate about a wobbly old doctrine of international law: the Doctrine of Odious Debt. This doctrine allows governments to disavow debts incurred by their predecessors without the consent of or benefit for the people, provided creditors knew of the taint. It has roots in nineteenth century jostles over colonial possessions. However, for the past eighty years, Odious Debt's rhetorical appeal has vastly outstripped its "legal vitality." Here, Gelpern argues that the Doctrine of Odious Debt frames the problem of odious debt in a way that excludes a large number, …
The Institutionalist Implications Of An Odious Debt Doctrine, Paul B. Stephan
The Institutionalist Implications Of An Odious Debt Doctrine, Paul B. Stephan
Law and Contemporary Problems
Sovereigns incur debts, and creditors look to the law to hold sovereigns to their obligations. In legal terms, the question is whether to recognize and define an odious debt defense through a treaty or national legislative acts, on the one hand, or through the decisions of authoritative dispute-settlement bodies, whether international arbitral organs or domestic courts. Moreover, others may think that odious debt doctrine as a means can optimize the social welfare generated by sovereign-debt contracts. Here, Stephan examines the social welfare in the economic sense but attacks the problem from a different direction and concludes that no satisfactory mechanism …