 Resolving Debt Crises: An Historical PerspectiveNo 2555, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc Abstract: Two general approaches have been offered for dealing with the developing country debt crisis: continued reliance on case-by-case negotiation, versus global plans for fundamentally restructuring the terms of international lending and repayment. Both approaches have precedents in earlier historical periods. In the 1930s, for instance, when some two thirds of foreign dollar bonds lapsed into default, several global schemes for resolving the crisis were considered even while individual debtor- creditor negotiations were underway. In the end no global plan was adopted and the debt crisis of the 30s was resolved by the muddling-through approach of case-by-case negotiation. This experience suggests two questions about the efficacy of the alternative approaches. First, what stumbling blocks stand in the way of the adoption of global schemes? Second, as a crisis drags on, how do the evolution of debtor and creditor strategies permit it to be resolved through bilateral negotiation? In this paper historical evidence from the interwar period is addressed to these questions. Date: 1988-04 Published as Debt, Adjustment and Recovery, edited by Sebastian Edwards and Felipe Larrain, pp. 68-96. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1989. Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nbr:nberwo:2555 Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from Access Statistics for this paper More papers in NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.. Contact information at EDIRC. |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.