St. John's University School of Law
American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review

The Missing Piece of the Puzzle: Perspectives on the Wage Priority in Bankruptcy

C. Scott Pryor

The issue's fourth article, The Missing Piece of the Puzzle: Perspectives on the Wage Priority in Bankruptcy, is written by Professor C. Scott Pryor.  The article begins by reviewing the legal history of the wage priority in bankruptcy as well as the recent Supreme Court decision in Howard Delivery Service, Inc. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co.  Next, three viewpoints on the rationale of the wage priority are explored: the market failure, the rationale autonomy, and the normative points of view.  The author then argues that the influence of religion and politics on public morality had a considerable impact on the development of the wage priority.  Finally, the author concludes that the resilience of the wage priority provides an implied example of religious ideas being, to some extent, converted into generally accepted social policies.