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The Motor City Needs Oil (On Canvas): An Argument In Support Of Detroit's "Grand Bargain", Jonathan A. Weeks

Georgia Law Review

Now the largest municipality in the history of the United States to go bankrupt, Detroit very nearly lost its famous art collection to its creditors. To protect its collection, Detroit proposed what is now often referred to as the "grand bargain," which involved creating a corporation that paid $816 million for the entire art collection provided that the amount paid was earmarked for pension holders in Detroit. The deal resulted in realizing two goals: keeping the art collection in Detroit and protecting pensioners who faced a huge loss in the wake of the bankruptcy. Critics of the grand bargain claim …