Belly Up: The Spoils of Bankruptcy

Robert W. Sexty is a professor of commerce and business administration
at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and the author of Canadian
Business: Issues and Stakeholders.

Walter Stewart has made a career of critiquing the Canadian business
system. In previous volumes, he has examined the food industry,
newspapers, banks, Crown corporations, and the stock market. This time
he looks at insolvency and bankruptcy, both corporate and personal.

Stewart’s thesis is that bankruptcy law, as applied today, favors
those who bend or break the rules. Laws originally intended to punish
debtors now appear to reward them. Debtors are allowed to slough off not
only their debts but also their obligations and responsibilities to
creditors, employees, consumers, and society in general. Bankruptcy is
used to avoid paying creditors (who receive only two to four cents per
dollar owed them), to void union contracts, to escape lawsuits arising
from unsafe products, and to shuck off environmental costs.

For the casual reader, this book makes for light, entertaining reading.
The more serious student of bankruptcy is advised to seek out sources
that examine the subject in greater depth.