International law scholar to give lecture on debt crises

LAWRENCE — Since the Greek debt crisis began in 2010, the country has grabbed international headlines with its staggering unemployment and plummeting GDP, international bailouts and strict austerity measures, and speculation that Greece may leave the eurozone. While noteworthy, Greece’s experience is not new. The country’s path is reminiscent of Germany’s attempts to rebuild after World War I, and considering German history may shed light on how leaders can restore growth in Greece.

The University of Kansas School of Law will welcome Richard Buxbaum, the Jackson H. Ralston Professor of International Law (Emeritus) at the University of California-Berkeley, to discuss the parallels at the third Robert C. Casad Comparative Law Lecture at 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, in 107 Green Hall. The public is invited to attend the free lecture and reception to follow.

Buxbaum’s presentation, “Twentieth-Century Sovereign Debtors: From Germany to Greece,” will explore the effects of the Treaty of Versailles on the German Reich after World War I. The Versailles terms required Germany to repay steep war debts, resulting in depression and instability. Germany defaulted on its debts, unleashing an economic crisis that helped usher in Hitler’s rise to power, led to war and economic collapse, and instigated the country’s division.

Buxbaum practiced law in Rochester, New York, and with the U.S. Army before joining the Berkeley Law faculty in 1961. He studies corporation law and comparative and international economic law and is a past editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Comparative Law. Buxbaum has also served as chair of UC Berkeley’s Center for German and European Studies and Center for Western European Studies and as dean of international and area studies. He holds an LL.M. from UC Berkeley and an LL.B. and bachelor's degrees from Cornell University.

The Casad lecture series is named in honor of Professor Emeritus Robert C. Casad, who was on faculty at the KU School of Law from 1959 to 1997. Casad is internationally known for his scholarship in comparative civil procedure. The inaugural Casad lecture was held in 2008, featuring George A. Bermann of Columbia Law School. H. Patrick Glenn of McGill University delivered the second Casad lecture in 2012.