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A debt crisis is sweeping the city of Athens in 594 BC.

A stone monument stands on many lands in the city-state. This stone monument shows that five-sixths of the harvest in the region belongs to the creditor, and farmers can only keep one-sixth. These peasants are called “Jiuyi Han”. If the harvest is not enough to pay off the debt, the creditor has the right to sell the “Six One Han” and his wife and children into slavery.

So, a large number of farmers became debt slaves, and the people complained for a while; the desperate farmers caused riots and tried to divide up the land and property of the rich. The rich think that debt repayment is the responsibility of fulfilling the contract. The debt problem has intensified social conflicts, and Athens is on the verge of fierce conflict and even civil war.

At this time, the new politician Solon, a prominent politician in Athens history, took office, and he issued a “relief order” on the first day of his appointment as the chief governor of Athens. He ordered people to remove the creditor’s rights monument standing on the mortgaged land; abolished all debts, forbidden borrowing to be personally mortgaged; farmers who were sold because of debts were all released; all the mortgaged land was returned to the owner.

Debtors are all cheering, but the creditors and aristocrats who are desperate and angry are moving around to attack Solon. Engels said: “In the revolution conducted by Solon, it should be to damage the creditor’s property to protect the debtor’s property.” Solon had to exchange benefits to appease the nobles.

Athens are fortunate. The solitary Solon resolved a social crisis.

Sorren once wrote a psalm:

“Evil people often get rich, and good people tend to be poor; but we don’t want to exchange our morals with their wealth, because morality always exists, and wealth changes owners every day.” / p>

But for thousands of years, the conflict between the rich and the poor has been entangled in debt and morality. Debt conflicts have caused countless economic crashes, social unrest, political downfalls, and even killings and wars.

A famous scholar studying ancient history, Moses Finley, said that all ancient revolutionary movements had the same step: “cancel debts and reallocate land.”

This is politics andInterest struggle.

The ancients said: “Murder is reimbursed for life, debts are repaid,” and “debts are repaid by punishment, and money is sold for repayment.”

This is a question of moral and legal balance.

An American proverb says, “If you owe the bank $ 100,000, then your property belongs to the bank. If you owe the bank $ 100 million, then the bank belongs to you.”

This is a question of risk and market principles.

In modern times, debt has gradually shifted from a moral target to a market target. Borrowing is defined as a market behavior, not a moral one. Debt is to achieve better allocation of resources in time and space by providing liquidity.

The nature of debt is to provide liquidity. Borrowing means that capital ownership and risk are transferred from the debtor to the creditor.

So, the moral relationship of debt evolves into a contractual relationship between rights and obligations.

The perception of debt is the key to modern market awareness. Business means risk, and debt is the core of risk. If the debt is insolvent, is it possible to “do not repay”, that is, debt relief? If market principles are considered, debt relief is part of market behavior.

In this way, the insolvency law matched with debt relief was born.

In 1705, Britain introduced the debt exemption system for the first time.

In 1787, near the end of the US Constituent Assembly, a representative from Rhode Island named Charles Pinkeny proposed the inclusion of a bankruptcy clause. This proposal was adopted almost in all votes and was written into Article 8 of the US Constitution: “Congress has the power to pass a uniform law on bankruptcy.”

The founder of the United States, Madison, wrote in the Federalist Collection at the time: “The power to formulate a unified bankruptcy law is closely related to commercial norms and can effectively prevent parties from using their property in different states or using their property Fraudulent transfers to different states. “ [1]

Some people believe that debtors can use bankruptcy law to engage in “legitimate fraud”, while proponents of bankruptcy law have the opposite view, which can effectively prevent fraud.

Actually, bankruptcy law, debt relief, entrepreneurship, limited liability, and risk management are the same market rules. Business means risk, and limited liability system can maximize the release of risk and stimulate entrepreneursSpirit; debt relief and bankruptcy law are necessary conditions for the rise and implementation of modern markets.

The perception of debt and the evolution of bankruptcy law is a history of repeated games of complicated politics, interests, creditor groups, and populism.

In 1800, the birth of the first bankruptcy law in the United States was part of the long-term struggle between the Hamilton and Jefferson factions on the principles and ideology of nation-building, and the result of a game of interest between the northern business community and the southern farmer.

Throughout the nineteenth century, the bankruptcy law of the United States was trivial and trivial. It became a “night pot” to save the economic crisis and a tool for gaining political votes. The Great Financial Panic of 1797 gave birth to the Bankruptcy Act of 1800; the famous Great Panic of 1837 gave birth to the Bankruptcy Act of 1841; the Great Panic of 1857 gave birth to the Bankruptcy Act of 1867.

In every big panic, American society can basically reach a consensus: the businessman chased by debt is unable to make a comeback, and the new businessman is unwilling to expand production to save the crisis because of fear of risk. However, after each crisis, speculators will use the bankruptcy law to snatch profits. Southern forces are worried that their land and property will be legally taken away by speculators, and they will try every means to kick the “night pot” back to the bottom of the bed.

The Great Economic Panic of 1893 gave birth to the Bankruptcy Act of 1898. The history of this law’s legislation can be described as “a history of Odyssey that has been in fate for almost 18 years and is almost dead”. However, the decree subtly balanced the relationship between creditors and debtors and became a stable bankruptcy law. Since then, the United States has established modern bankruptcy laws.

Since then, the bankruptcy law has been perfected in the game of state interventionism and liberalism. In the 1960s and 1970s, American consumerism flourished, investment banks rose, and large-scale consumer credit and housing loans triggered a large wave of personal defaults. In the era of asset bubbles and debt inflation, bankruptcy laws are facing new challenges, and they are also shouldering new missions and responsibilities.

Today, the global debt tide is on the rise, the housing bubble is inflated, the company’s debt rate is high, the number of bankruptcies in housing companies has increased, and some companies have fallen into a bankruptcy dilemma. Investment fund redemption crises, housing loans, and consumer credit issues have surfaced. Many entrepreneurs, public figures, wealthy second-generation, and mortgage lenders have joined the list of dishonest performers, and even a few college students have fallen into the “naked loan door.” Lao Luo promised to “make a show” to repay his debt, and Lao Jia, who built a car in the United States, is applying for personal bankruptcy.

Mr. Cao Dewang, the founder of Fuyao Glass Group, urged not to use “old Lai” to describe bankrupt entrepreneurs, because entrepreneurs’ businesses are risky businesses and they should be encouraged to continue their struggle. He also repeatedly called for legislation to allow