When States Go Broke collects insights and analysis from leading academics and practitioners that discuss the ongoing fiscal crisis among the American states. No one disagrees with the idea that the states face enormous political and fiscal challenges. There is, however, little consensus on how to fix the perennial problems associated with these challenges. This volume fills an important gap in the dialogue by offering an academic analysis of the many issues broached by these debates. Leading scholars in bankruptcy, constitutional law, labor law, history, political science and economics have individually contributed their assessments of the origins, context and potential solutions for the states in crisis. It presents readers - academics, policy makers and concerned citizens alike - with the resources to begin and continue that important, solution-oriented conversation.

"Well-written and cohesive....Editors Conti-Brown and Skeel did a fine job ensuring that a diversity of perspectives were represented, both disciplinary (economists, political scientists, lawyers) and professional/political (academics, a union lawyer, a conservative think tank scholar....Recommended." --Choice

Peter Conti-Brown is an Academic Fellow at the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford Law School and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Conti-Brown has worked as a legal and financial policy consultant for banks, hedge funds, institutional investors and labor unions, advising on Dodd–Frank implementation, banking law and corporate governance. His articles have appeared or are forthcoming in the Stanford Law Review, the UCLA Law Review and the Washington University Law Review, among other publications. David Skeel is the S. Samuel Arsht Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He is the author of The New Financial Deal: Understanding the Dodd–Frank Act and Its (Unintended) Consequences (2011), Icarus in the Boardroom (2005) and Debt's Dominion: A History of Bankruptcy Law in America (2001), as well co-editor with Michael Klarman and Carol Steiker of The Political Heart of Criminal Procedure (2011), a collection of tribute essays to William J. Stuntz.