Bankruptcy Reform and Credit Cards
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4030108 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michelle Jennifer White (0000-0003-0164-7677, Professor of Economics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, and Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts.) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 175-199 |
| Publication date | 2007-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Economic Perspectives (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0895-3309 • E-ISSN: 1944-7965 |
| Publisher | American Economic Association (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1257/jep.21.4.175 |
| OpenAlex | W3121485292 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 15 |
| References cited | 12 |
From 1980 to 2004, the number of personal bankruptcy filings in the United States increased more than five-fold, from 288,000 to 1.5 million per year. By 2004, more Americans were filing for bankruptcy each year than were graduating from college, getting divorced, or being diagnosed with cancer. In 2005, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) became law. It made bankruptcy law much less debtor-friendly. Personal bankruptcy filings fell to 600,000 in 2006. This paper explores why personal bankruptcy rates rose, and will argue that the main reason is the growth of "revolving debt"-mainly credit card debt. It explains how the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) of 2005 altered the conditions of bankruptcy. Finally, this essay considers the balances that need to be struck in a bankruptcy system and how the U.S. bankruptcy system strikes these balances in comparison with other countries. I argue that a less debtor-friendly bankruptcy policy should be accompanied by changes in bank regulation and truth-in-lending rules, so that lenders have a greater chance of facing losses when they supply too much credit or charge excessively high interest rates and fees
Bankruptcy · Business · Consumer Protection Act · Credit card · Creditor · Debt · Debtor · Economics · Financial system · Monetary economics · Obligation · Payment · Political science · Banking stability, regulation, efficiency · Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis · Housing Market and Economics · Law · Finance
Judge Dread
Partisanship and personal bankruptcy policy in the European Union
Self-Insuring against Liability Risk
Corporate and Personal Bankruptcy Law
Debt-Poor Kids
The Japanese consumer finance market and its institutional changes since the 1980s
Credit union loan rate determinants following the 2008 financial crisis
Trickle-Down Consumption
Shoplifters of the World Unite! Law and Culture in Financialized Times
Marital Status and Other Correlates of Personal Bankruptcy, 1986–2004
Financial Trouble Across Generations
Consumer Debt and the Measurement of Poverty and Inequality in the US∗
The Great American Recession
Pathways into Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy reform and congressional action
| Unique citing works | 15 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.83 |
| Citation span | 2008 - 2026 (19) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 15 |