Consumer Credit, Debt and Bankruptcy: Comparative and International Perspectives [Hardcover]

Johanna Niemi (Editor), Iain Ramsay (Editor), William C Whitford (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 21, 2009 | ISBN-10: 1841132586 | ISBN-13: 978-1841132587

After a long period of prosperity and steady economic growth, the world's leading economies are now in crisis, although that there will be debate about its origins, the scale and seriousness of the crisis is not in doubt. There is also no doubt that excessive amounts of consumer credit, allied to a weak understanding of how globalized credit markets might react to a crisis, have played a significant part. This book, which is primarily about credit, debt, and the trouble they have led to, is written by authors who have specialized in researching into over-indebtedness — that is, situations in which an individual's debt burden has become overwhelming. For these authors, the plight of individuals is a primary concern, but the wider issue is how credit is used and how it changes societies. The essays in this volume — addressing topics which are fundamental to our understanding of the current crisis — range widely across the whole sector of consumer finance, including mortgages, predatory and unsecured lending, 'credit-binges,' the regulation of consumer lending, bankruptcy, insolvency, repayment plans, debt counseling, and much more. The contributors take a comparative approach, dealing with the US, the UK, Europe, South Africa, Korea, and Japan. The conclusions drawn from the book are equally wide-ranging, but above all, the lesson learned is that the financialization of contemporary life ensures that issues of the appropriate role of credit remains of critical importance in society.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This work provides a ready reckoner on the cause and effects of the global credit crisis and some guidance onhow history can perhaps not repeat itself.Anthony Lo SurdoAustralian Banking and Finance BulletinVol 25 No 6, December 2009/January 2010It's a good collection of work and is a good entry way into the literature for anyone wanting to think about these issues from a global perspective.Professor Robert M. LawlessCredit SlipsOctober 2009The books twenty papers are sharply focused on the topic of comparative and international consumer overindebtedness. The editors chose these papers from thirty presented at the conference. Some are excellent, even read in isolation. Nearly all are very good. Even the few that are neither were included for a reason: they provide the only windows available into the consumer credit and bankruptcy systems of particular countries...Whatever the future may hold, Consumer Credit is now the state of the art in the very lively field of comparative consumer credit and bankruptcy. This book is a necessity for anyone working or interested in that field.Lynn M. LoPuckiAmerican Journal of Comparative LawVolume 58, No. 2.

About the Author

Johanna Niemi is Senior Researcher at National Research Institute of Legal Policy, Helsinki, Finland. Iain Ramsay is Professor of Law at Kent Law School, University of Kent at Canterbury. William C Whitford is Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 453 pages
• Publisher: Hart Publishing (July 21, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841132586
• ISBN-13: 978-1841132587
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,189,826 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)