New Book by Professor Melissa Jacoby: Unjust Debts

Professor Melissa Jacoby has released a new book, Unjust Debts: How Our Bankruptcy System Makes America More Unequal. It is available in print and online through UNC Libraries.

Published by The New Press in June of 2024, Unjust Debts was named one of the Best Summer Books in Economics by the Financial Times. Professor Jacoby challenges the idea that bankruptcy is a tool to help the vulnerable and unlucky and argues instead that it favors the powerful. Unjust Debts traces the ways that corporations, governments, and wealthy individuals use bankruptcy as an escape hatch, contributing to race, gender, and class inequality in America.

Drawing upon her extensive research and experience teaching bankruptcy, clerking in federal bankruptcy courts, and serving institutions like the National Bankruptcy Review Commission, the Federal Judicial Center, and the American Bankruptcy Institute, Jacoby offers not only an overview of the field but also offers policy solutions that could make bankruptcy more equitable for everyone.

Congratulations to Professor Jacoby!