The Volokh Conspiracy - Sharp Drop In Consumer Bankruptcy Filings:

From WaPo:

In the month since a new bankruptcy law took effect, the number of Americans filing for protection from their creditors has slowed to a trickle, running at one-tenth the normal number of filings.

Last week, the nation's federal bankruptcy courts received about 3,600 petitions, according to Lundquist Consulting Inc., a California financial research firm that tracks bankruptcy data from the nation's courts. In a usual week, about 30,000 cases are filed.

Of course, nothing has been normal at the bankruptcy courts for the past few months, as the more restrictive law took effect on Oct. 17. In the week before the deadline, the number of cases filed reached 479,430, Lundquist said. The previous week, petitions totaled 124,037.

Obviously one cannot infer anything about the long-term effect of the change in the law from these figures because of the extraordinary intervening effect of the law. But I am surprised that the incentive effect on filings was that large--479,430 to 3,600. Most experts had thought the pre-law week would be about half that figure (in the 200k range) and not such a large drop-off afterwards.

	[Todd Zywicki, November 22, 2005 at 6:56am] Trackbacks Sharp Drop In Consumer Bankruptcy Filings: From WaPo: In the month since a new bankruptcy law took effect, the number of Americans filing for protection from their creditors has slowed to a trickle, running at one-tenth the normal number of filings. Last week, the nation's federal bankruptcy courts received about 3,600 petitions, according to Lundquist Consulting Inc., a California financial research firm that tracks bankruptcy data from the nation's courts. In a usual week, about 30,000 cases are filed. Of course, nothing has been normal at the bankruptcy courts for the past few months, as the more restrictive law took effect on Oct. 17. In the week before the deadline, the number of cases filed reached 479,430, Lundquist said. The previous week, petitions totaled 124,037. Obviously one cannot infer anything about the long-term effect of the change in the law from these figures because of the extraordinary intervening effect of the law. But I am surprised that the incentive effect on filings was that large--479,430 to 3,600. Most experts had thought the pre-law week would be about half that figure (in the 200k range) and not such a large drop-off afterwards.