Remarks Made Before the United Nations General Assembly Ad Hoc Committee on Sovereign Debt Restructuring

Résumé du livre

General Assembly resolution 69/247 established the Ad Hoc Committee on Sovereign Debt Restructuring, with instructions to "elaborate ... a multilateral legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring processes." These invited remarks discuss the historical context for this effort, which spans at least two centuries. I make two primary points. First, for at least two centuries, reformers and market participants have attempted to solve the very same technical problems, typically by amending contracts rather than building institutions. Second, just as reformers use contracts as tools of market governance, private actors use contracts to maximize their own interests, and not always in a way that enhances social welfare. Using expansive waivers of sovereign immunity as an example, I suggest that contract reform will be a never-ending process.