Comments 9

Ein Fortschritt für staatliche Schuldner

Nov 9, 2015 Joseph E. Stiglitz , Martin Guzman

NEW YORK – Jedes entwickelte Land verfügt über ein Insolvenzrecht, doch es fehlt an einem entsprechenden Rahmenwerk für staatliche Kreditnehmer. Dieses rechtliche Vakuum ist durchaus von Bedeutung, denn es kann eine Volkswirtschaft zum Erliegen bringen, wie derzeit in Griechenland und Puerto Rico zu beobachten ist.

Im September setzten die Vereinten Nationen einen bedeutenden Schritt, um diese Lücke zu füllen und verabschiedeten eine Reihe von Prinzipien zur Restrukturierung von Staatsschulden. Neun Grundsätze – nämlich das Recht des Staates, eine Restrukturierung in Gang zu setzen, staatliche Immunität, Gleichbehandlung von Gläubigern, Restrukturierung durch (Super-) Mehrheitsentscheidung, Transparenz, Unparteilichkeit, Legitimität, Nachhaltigkeit und Verhandlungen in Treu und Glauben - bilden dabei das Rückgrat wirksamer internationaler Rechtsstaatlichkeit.

Die überwältigende Unterstützung für diese Prinzipien – 136 UNO-Mitglieder stimmten dafür und nur sechs (angeführt von den Vereinigten Staaten) dagegen – zeugt von der weltweiten Einigkeit hinsichtlich der Notwendigkeit, Schuldenkrisen zügig zu lösen. Der nächste Schritt – nämlich die Ausarbeitung eines internationalen Vertrags über ein globales, für alle Länder verbindliches Insolvenzregime – könnte sich schwieriger gestalten.

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Joseph E. Stiglitz

Writing for PS since 2001
250 Commentaries

Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics, is University Professor at Columbia University and Chief Economist at the Roosevelt Institute. His most recent book is Globalization and Its Discontents Revisited: Anti-Globalization in the Era of Trump.

Martin Guzman

Writing for PS since 2014
11 Commentaries

Martin Guzman, a research associate at Columbia University Business School and an associate professor at the University of Buenos Aires, is a co-chair of the Columbia Initiative for Policy Dialogue Taskforce on Debt Restructuring and Sovereign Bankruptcy and a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI).

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0 Comments on this paragraph, 10 in all 10 Comments on this article

Kevin Remillard Nov 29, 2015

If All Your Friends Jumped Off A Bridge
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Fabio Luelmo Nov 10, 2015

Just as Greece has done, again. In fact all of Europe is at risk of selling sovereignty to the banks.
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Boris Dirnbach Nov 10, 2015

Stiglitz & Guzman note […] “that countries like the US object to an international legal framework because it interferes with their national sovereignty. […] But it seems that the US values corporate sovereignty even more than the national kind. The Trans-Pacific [Corporate Sellout] Partnership imposes severe limits on the law making capacity of local and the federal government thru Investor-State Dispute Settlement provisions, as Prof. Stieglitz has previously noted in his May 2015 article “The Secret Corporate Takeover.” […] The real intent of these [ISDS] provisions is to impede health, environmental, safety, and, yes, even financial regulations meant to protect America’s own economy and citizens. Companies can sue governments for full compensation for any reduction in their future expected profits resulting from regulatory changes. […] http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/us-secret-corporate-takeover-by-joseph-e--stiglitz-2015-05 Should the TPP, and its partner sellout treaties TTIP/TiSA, pass they will represent a corporate coup d’etat that will undermine all sovereign rule making worldwide. We will all suffer as corporations chip away at regulations that might undermine their future profits. Please call your senators and congressperson to demand that they vote “NO!” on the TPP/TTIP/TiSA. ARTICLE: 'Worse Than We Thought': TPP A Total Corporate Power Grab Nightmare, http://www.peopledemandingaction.org/campaigns/stop-tpp-fast-track/item/434-worse-than-we-thought-tpp-a-total-corporate-power-grab-nightmare
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M M Nov 10, 2015

It is all down to power and greed, the two uncompromising factors by any treaty or MOU. The rules of the Jungle….
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Diego Orlandi Nov 10, 2015

I agree. It is clear that wild deregulation will bring us back to the slave trading days saooner than we might think
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Rick Puglisi Nov 10, 2015

No country has a right to ignore the laws of another country. Sovereign immunity does not mean that Argentina can sign a contract under US law and then claim it is immune to US law. Argentina only has sovereign immunity with respect to laws in Argentina. The authors seem to suggest this is just a "weighting" problem. It is not. Either the US is a sovereign nation or it is not.
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Alex Leo Nov 10, 2015

"Perhaps that is because all are leading creditor countries, with no desire to embrace restrictions on their powers.". Exactly. There are responsible creditors who are held accountable for those who have entrusted them with their money.

You can not change the balance of risk and reward unilaterally and expect the creditors to just continue lending. They will not. And, if so, the fact that there are 6 of them, is not relevant, you just cannot expect them to change the terms and lend on terms that are preferable to the debtors.
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MK Anon Nov 9, 2015

let's also mention that there is some justice in debt default: higher risk yields higher return. If a bank lends to argentina in 2000 or greece in 2012 with a 40% annual interest rate, they can't complain if they loose their money: they bet and they lost..
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Earl Staelin Nov 9, 2015

This would be a major essential step forward. Equally important, if not more important, should be the right of every nation to create its own currency without borrowing from private banks. The financial problems of Greece and other debtor nations, including the United Stated, could be greatly ameliorated or eliminated by utilizing this measure. Lincoln was the only U.S. president to make a major use of this measure, issuing $450,000,000 in greenbacks to fund a large part of the Civil War without borrowing from the large private banks.
- Stamatis Kavvadias Nov 29, 2015
  
  You are exactly right. But, Stiglitz is among the people who do not understand money and advocate regulation of the existing system....
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