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Market Failure, Pari Passu, and the Law and Economics Approach to the Sovereign Debt Crisis

This article confronts several important questions about the sovereign bond market’s inability to resolve contract disputes efficiently. The problem stems from the lack of remedies available to creditors when a sovereign breaches a debt contract. Even if the creditors overcome several obstacles to win a judgment, they soon find that the doctrine of foreign sovereign immunity makes it nearly impossible to enforce the award. While some creditors accept their losses, others have pursued costly remedial strategies — albeit to little avail. [...]