Is a Diaspora Bond a Loan or a Gift?

Contract law distinguishes contracts from promises to make a gift. Contracts are enforceable; gift promises are not. Theories supporting this distinction note that gift promises often are made in relational and non-market settings where reputational and other enforcement mechanisms work well, and where legal enforcement is less needed and might even be disruptive. Yet a literature in economic sociology shows a much blurrier boundary between gift and market transactions. One context in which this is so involves diaspora bonds issued by sovereign states. Dan Lainer-Vos (USC) joins us to talk about the contrasting experience of issuing diaspora bonds in Ireland and Israel, the subject of his terrific book, “Sinews of the Nation."

Producer: Leanna Doty