When States Go Broke

by Conti-brown, Peter; Skeel, David A., Jr.

• ISBN13: 9781107023178
• ISBN10: 1107023173
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-05-21
• Publisher: Cambridge Univ Pr

Summary

When States Go Broke collects insights and analysis from leading academics and practitioners that discuss the ongoing fiscal crisis among the American states. No one disagrees with the idea that the states face enormous political and fiscal challenges. There is, however, little consensus on how to fix the perennial problems associated with these challenges. This volume fills an important gap in the dialogue by offering an academic analysis of the many issues broached by these debates. Leading scholars in bankruptcy, constitutional law, labor law, history, political science, and economics have individually contributed their assessments of the origins, context, and potential solutions for the states in crisis. It presents readers - academics, policy makers, and concerned citizens alike - with the resources to begin and continue that important, solution-oriented conversation.

Table of Contents

The Problem: The States in Fiscal Crisis

Fiscal constitutions and fiscal crises: a history Isabel Rodriguez-Tejedo

Obligations without the power to fund them: the origins, consequences, and possible solution to the fiscal crisis of the states

Public pension pressures in the United States

Structural challenges in state budgeting

The Legal and Political Context of Public Debt

What states can learn from municipal insolvency

Market discipline and US federalism

American states and sovereign debt restructuring: lessons and cautionary tales

Evaluating Solutions

State bankruptcy from the ground up

Fiscal federalism and the limits of bankruptcy

Extending bankruptcy law to states: is it constitutional?

Bankruptcy for the states and by the states

Labor and the states' fiscal problems: not the problem but perhaps part of the solution

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