Named one of the Best Summer Books in Economics by the Financial TimesA groundbreaking look at the hidden role of bankruptcy in perpetuating inequality in America from an expert in the field Debts open the doors and windows to the bankruptcy system so readers can see for themselves how this law works and doesnt work for the real people it so profoundly affects. Beth Macy York Times author of LazarusBankruptcy is the busiest federal court in America. In theory bankruptcy in America exists to cancel or restructure debts for people and companies that have way too many safety valve designed to provide a mechanism for restarting lives and businesses when things go wrong financially. this brilliant and paradigmshifting book legal scholar Melissa B. Jacoby shows how bankruptcy has also become an escape hatch for powerful individuals corporations and governments contributing in unseen and poorly understood ways to race gender and class inequality in America.