Decision-Making and the Shaky Property Foundations of Municipal Bankruptcy Law

Abstract

Municipal bankruptcies are unpredictable. There are several reasons for this statement — municipal bankruptcies are rare, involvement of the state itself in the process varies according to the governing state law, and chapter 9, the Bankruptcy Code chapter governing the municipal bankruptcy process, has many gaps. Congress constructed the modern chapter 9 on a foundation of corporate bankruptcy law, a foundation whose roots — corporate finance — are significantly different from the rules governing municipal finance. In this Article, Professor Moringiello aims a spotlight on the property roots of private bankruptcy law and compares them to the promissory and statutory roots of municipal finance law and makes suggestions for a decision-making framework for chapter 9 cases.

Keywords: Chapter 9, Municipal Bankruptcy, Bankruptcy

JEL Classification: K00, K19, K39, H79