Thanks for the chance to post.

Thanks to the folks who run Credit Slips for the opportunity to post.  I hope to be back in a few months with musings about the following: 

1. Since the CFPB has very limited authority over auto finance, and since securitization of consumer auto loans is back with a vengeance and since low and moderate income folks desperately need used cars, we need to watch carefully this first post-crash subprime challenge. 
2. Do preference recoveries redirect dollars in accordance with the goal of preference avoidance? With help from Ronald Mann I hope to do a small empirical study that others might replicate in their localities.Such information is crucial in figuring out the right size and shape for the preference recovery net. 
3. Has the combination of the fall-off of law student numbers and the pressure toward more practice-oriented courses impacted the use of adjuncts in law schools?
4. What are the factors behind the significant fall-off in insolvency work and is this a normal cycle or does it constitute institutional change for the business bankruptcy bar? I hope to combine my thinking with what I can learn from interviews with lawyers, lenders of every type, turnaround folks and academics who study this type of thing.   Till next time. 

Comments

[ThomasW]

These look like interesting subjects. On the first (auto finance) I think a more interesting question is why used car prices are so high. My (unscientific) experience looking for cars the last few years is that 4-5 year old cars with 80-100K miles often sell for 70-80% of new rather than 50% or less in the past.

Higher prices make it that much more likely low and moderate income people will get in trouble regardless of the type of loan.

[Raymond Bell]

I look forward to David's insight and comments.

[Mr. P]

I hope that you'll be able to determine the % of cases in which meaningful preference and other avoidance action recoveries trickle down to unsecured creditors. IMHO, avoidance actions benefit debtor/committee lawyers, for the most part.

[David Lander]

Thanks. This is one of the main goals of the proposed survey. To my knowledge all we have at this point is anecdotal information. Hopefully we can do a survey that would withstand must on a shoestring and see what it shows.