Self-paced
P1
In many Western societies, modern bankruptcy laws have undergone a shift away from a focus on punishment and toward a focus on bankruptcy as a remedy for individuals and corporations in financial trouble—and, .
Intro to Topic ·
Modern bankruptcy laws
No longer about punishment. About remedying the financial situation for the debtor and creditor.
Increased Bankruptcies Declared ·
This has been criticized
Main Point ·
Do not abandon modern bankruptcy laws
Their increased use is not a reason to abandon them. They serve a useful economic purpose.
P2
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Old Solution ·
Imprisonment and dissolution
Punishment was thought to be the right solution to insolvency because debtors were violating "sacrosanct" social contracts.
Critique ·
This benefits no one
Creditors can't get paid if the debtor is in jail. A dissolution of a company would cause unemployment.
P3
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New Solution ·
Modern bankruptcy law
Two Rationales ·
(1) Public good is paramount and (2) that's better served by allowing the debtor to continue to operate
Mechanism ·
Court-directed reorganization of debt
Some debts forgiven; some assets transferred to creditors.
Punishment ·
Bad credit score
A bit of punishment is still there, but the point is to benefit society
Goal ·
Restoration of healthy economic activity
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Problem-analysis
6.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ███ ████████
a
The modern trend ██ ██████████ ███ ████ ████ ██████████ ███ ██████ ███ ███████████ ██ ████████ ████████ ██████ ███ ████ █████████ ██ ███████ ███ ██████ ███ ██ ██████████
This best captures the main point, which is that current bankruptcy laws, which are more focused on helping people in financial trouble,
b
Bankruptcy laws have ███████ ██ █████ ██ ████ ███ █████ ██ ██████████ ███ ██████ ██ ███ █████████ ██████████ ████████ ██ ███████ ████████ ███ █████████████ ████████████
This doesn’t capture the author’s opinion about these laws, which is that they’re good for society and should be kept. If the author expresses an opinion about the central topic of the passage, then that opinion should be part of the main point.
c
Modern bankruptcy laws ███ █████████ ██ ████████████ ████████ ████ ██████ ███ ███████ ████████ ████████ ███ ████ ████████████ ██████████
The author doesn’t indicate that the earlier punitive approach to bankruptcy was more economically efficient. If anything, she suggests that it was
d
Punishment for debt ██ ██████ █████ █████████ █████ ███ ███████ ███ ██ █████████ █ ███████ ████ ███ ████ ███████ █████████ ██ ████████████
The author never suggests that punishment doesn’t have a deterrent effect anymore. Since (D) isn’t supported, it can’t be the main point.
e
Greater economic interdependence ███ █████████ ███ █████████ ██ ██████████ ████ ████ ███████ █ ███████████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ███████ ███ ██████████
(E) might describe the origin of the current bankruptcy laws, but it doesn’t capture the author’s opinion about these laws, which is that they’re good for society and should be kept. If the author expresses an opinion about the central topic of the passage, then that opinion should be part of the main point.