When, why and how do countries go bust? That’s the topic of the latest New Money Review podcast, where I’m joined by Greg Makoff, a former physicist, banker, government advisor and now senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.Makoff is the author of a recent book (https://www.defaultthebook.com/) on what has been called “the most contentious default in history”—Argentina’s 2001-2016 debt restructuring.In the podcast, we discuss:* When, why and how countries go bust* What distinguishes a sovereign insolvency from a corporate or personal bankruptcy* Who has jurisdiction over sovereign defaults?* What brings governments and creditors to the table?* Sovereign immunity and the negotiating power between debtor and creditor* What went wrong in Argentina’s debt restructuring?* How Elliott Capital Management made billions on defaulted Argentinian debt* The broader public policy lessons of Argentina’s debt restructuring* China, the IMF and the geopolitics of sovereign debt* Default risk in domestic and foreign currency bonds* Why sovereign debt problems will never go away