Episode 82: David Skeel
Sam is away this week, dear listeners—presumably off somewhere arguing with older Americans about why they shouldn’t vote—leaving David to talk bankruptcy with David Skeel. (The two Davids rejoice!)
In this week’s episode, we turn to municipal insolvency and the largest government debt restructuring in American history. David Skeel, the S. Samuel Arsht Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, joins the pod to discuss his new book: Promise Land: The Inside Story of the Puerto Rico Debt Crisis. Drawing on his experience serving on (and chairing) Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight and Management Board during its bankruptcy-like Title III process, the book combines Skeel’s deep expertise in bankruptcy law with a rich account of the conflicts and compromises among bankruptcy lawyers, judges, local and federal officials, Puerto Rico’s citizens, and bondholders of various stripes.
Skeel walks us through the specifics of the crisis: how Puerto Rico got into so much fiscal trouble, the island’s appetite for borrowing, and how federal disaster aid shifted the balance of power between the oversight board and the local government. The two Davids also tackle broader questions about municipal bankruptcy, revisiting Skeel’s support for allowing states to file for bankruptcy, his earlier criticism of how creditors were treated in Detroit, whether pensioners should receive more than bondholders, and how much discretion bankruptcy judges should wield.
Finally, Schleicher presses Skeel on the controversial COFINA bonds, the major legal questions left unanswered by settlements, and the struggle to restructure Puerto Rico’s electric utility. They close by considering whether Puerto Rico offers a preview of future American fiscal crises and what the optimal design for municipal bailouts looks like.
Referenced Readings
Promise Land: The Inside Story of the Puerto Rico Debt Crisis, David Skeel (2026).
Debt’s Dominion: A History of Bankruptcy Law in America, David Skeel (2001).
In a Bad State: Responding to State and Local Budget Crises, David Schleicher (2023).
Give States a Way to Go Bankrupt, David Skeel, The Weekly Standard (2010).
A Bankruptcy Law—Not Bailouts—for the States, David Skeel, WSJ (2011).
States of Bankruptcy, David Skeel, University of Chicago Law Review, (2012).
Fixing Puerto Rico’s Debt Mess, David Skeel, WSJ (2016).
Can Pensions Be Restructured in (Detroit’s) Municipal Bankruptcy?, David Skeel (2013).
When Cities Go Broke: A Conceptual Introduction to Municipal Bankruptcy, Michael McConnell and Randal Picker, University of Chicago Law Review (1993).
Governance Reform and the Judicial Role in Municipal Bankruptcy, Clayton Gillette and David Skeel, Yale Law Journal (2016).
Junk Cities: Resolving Insolvency Crises in Overlapping Municipalities, Aurelia Chaudhury, Adam Levitin, and David Schleicher. California Law Review (2019).
Against Settlement, Owen Fiss, Yale Law Journal (1984).
Brighton Beach Memoirs, Neil Simon (1983).