It is important to note that indebted governments are both more and less vulnerable than private debtors. Sovereign borrowers cannot seek the protection of bankruptcy laws to delay and restructure payments; at the same time, their creditors cannot seize non-commercial public assets in compensation for unpaid debts.
负债政府既比私人债务人强大，又比私人债务人脆弱，认识到这一点很重要。主权借款人无法寻求破产法的保护以推迟和重组偿付；与此同时，它们的债权人无法获得非商业公共资产作为未偿还债务的补偿。当政府无法偿付时，唯一的办法是直接谈判。但现有债务重组制度效率低下、支离破碎并且不公平。