Rethinking odious debt in the age of predatory lending: Old ideas for new problems

Pierre Penet

No unige:102988, Working Papers from University of Geneva, Paul Bairoch Institute of Economic History

Abstract: This essay suggests that odious debt needs a restatement to stay relevant in the face of important changes affecting state (i.e. “sovereign”) debt. Today, a major issue affecting creditor-debtor relations in the sovereign sector is the predicament of over-lending. Examples abound of reckless creditors pressuring vulnerable states to borrow for projects they do not need and at conditions they do not fully understand. This development, which recalls the aggressive business tactics used by predatory lenders in consumer lending, has become a ubiquitous problem affecting both developing and developed nations. Yet, this problem remains largely unaccounted for in international law and in the odious debt doctrine in particular. The future of odious debt depends upon a collective endeavor to make the legal doctrine more sensitive to issues of predatory lending. This essay offers insights into the benefits that such efforts may yield on states and their creditors.

Keywords: International Law; Odious debt; Greece; Predatory lending; Colonial history (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F34 F54 H63 H74 K33 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 14 p.
Date: 2018
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-law
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gnv:wpaper:unige:102988

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