Table of Contents
Preface and Acknowledgements v
1 The Rise of Personal Insolvency Law 1
I Introduction 1
II Explanations for Stability and Change in Personal Insolvency Law 11
A The Role of Narratives in Personal Insolvency Policy 16
III Household Debt, Neo-liberalism, and Personal Insolvency Law 24
A False Dichotomies?-US Neo-liberalism versus EU Social Market? 28
B The Demographics of Personal Insolvency-US and Europe 31
IV Summary 33
2 US Exceptionalism? 34
I Introduction 34
II The Challenge of the Wage Earner Debtor: The 1930s 37
III The Wage Earner as Consumer Debtor: 1950s-1978 42
IV Layering and Changing the Narrative: 1978-97 50
A Changing Narratives and 'The War of Ideas' 52
V BAPCPA 2005-the Great Recession and the Future 56
A The Great Recession as a Critical Juncture? 60
VI The Role of the State in US Bankruptcy Law 62
VII Discussion 66
3 Drift, Conversion, and Layering: England and Wales 68
I Introduction 68
II The Players in English Personal Insolvency Reform 72
III Drifting-the Sad Life of the English Administration Order 77
A Adjusting the Administration Order to the Consumer Debtor? The Cork Committee 81
IV Conversion: The Individual Voluntary Arrangement 86
V Framing the Policy Response After the Enterprise Act: Borrowing Binges 92
A The Bankers' Campaign on the IVA 94
VI Relief for the Deserving Poor: The Debt Relief Order 99
VII The Great Recession and Personal Insolvency Law 102
VIII Discussion 103
4 France: Contingency, the Role of Narratives, and the New Droit Social 105
I Introduction 105
II Over-indebtedness Regulation in Context 106
III The Development of the Over-indebtedness Regime 108
A The Phases of French Reforms: From Debt Repayment to Debt Discharge 112
IV Legitimating Narratives: From Active to Passive Debtor to…? 116
V The Changing Institutional Landscape: Commissions, Courts, and the Law in Action 123
A The Role of the Courts: High Law and Low Law 125
VI Discussion 129
5 Sweden: The Quality of Mercy is Strained 133
I Introduction 133
II Swedish Regulation of the Consumer Credit Market 136
III The Development of the Swedish Debt Restructuring System 137
IV Who Accesses the Swedish Debt Restructuring System? 142
V Debt Counselling and the 'Enabling Welfare State' 145
VI The Five-Year Plan 147
VII Protection Against Home Eviction and Mortgage Foreclosure 149
VIII Discussion 150
6 After the Crisis: Towards an International 'Common Sense' in Personal Insolvency Law? 152
I Introduction 152
II International Initiatives: After the Great Recession 154
A European Bankruptcy Reform Through Imposition and Technocratic Persuasion 158
III European Union Consumer Credit Policy and Personal Insolvency 169
IV ED Personal Insolvency Policy after the Crisis 172
V EU Narratives 173
A Promoting Entrepreneurialism Through Personal Insolvency in the EU: The New 'Silver Bullet'? 173
B Financial and Social Inclusion 178
VI Bankruptcy Tourism, Regulatory Competition, and Regulatory Learning 179
VII Towards a European Paradigm? 184
VIII Conclusion 187
7 Conclusion: The Future of Personal Insolvency in the Twenty-First Century 189
I Influential Interest Groups 189
II Contemporary Narratives of Personal Insolvency 191
III Technocracy and Democracy in Personal Insolvency Reform 193
IV The Limits of Individual insolvency? 194
Index 199
