Reflections on debt management From founding texts to the current crisis

The relationship between creditor and debtor is historically source of numerous conflicts. The ancient texts, such as the code of Hammourabi or the texts of the Old Testament, relate early attempts to pacify these relations and try to propose principles of good conduct. Could these texts still be of some usefulness with respect to modern finance practices? The borrower is today either a private individual, a company or a state. When the debtor faces reversals of fortune, how shall we define best practices in the modern creditor-debtor relationship?