Jason Kilborn in a short (only 7 pages!) piece (abstract here) surveys the history of the discharge of debts from ancient Mesopotamia through Solon's Greece to the Hebrew Scriptures, Roman law, and finally to the present day. I think Kilborn gives insufficient attention to the input of Evangelical Christians in getting Congress to pass the Bankruptcy Act of 1841, the first modern law to permit voluntary bankruptcy and a debtor's discharge. You can read my analysis of the history of passage of that act in my Missing Piece of the Puzzle article here.
I also think Kilborn gives short shrift to the moral considerations that frame a legal regime of discharge of debts. I've blogged on the morality of promise receiving and the bankruptcy discharge many times; you can read some of my posts here, here, and here.
Nonetheless, Kilbourn's piece is a useful as a survey and should prove useful to anyone interested in legal responses to the problem of debt.
I also think Kilborn gives short shrift to the moral considerations that frame a legal regime of discharge of debts. I've blogged on the morality of promise receiving and the bankruptcy discharge many times; you can read some of my posts here, here, and here.
Nonetheless, Kilbourn's piece is a useful as a survey and should prove useful to anyone interested in legal responses to the problem of debt.
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