Exploring the underlying causes of corporate bankruptcies in the U.S.

By Rob Schmitz

Published December 13, 2025 at 5:43 AM MST

Corporate bankruptcies in the U.S. are on pace to reach a 15-year high this year. NPR's Rob Schmitz explores the underlying causes of this trend with Edward Altman, a professor at New York University who specializes in corporate bankruptcies.

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Rob Schmitz

Rob Schmitz is NPR's international correspondent based in Berlin, where he covers the human stories of a vast region reckoning with its past while it tries to guide the world toward a brighter future. From his base in the heart of Europe, Schmitz has covered Germany's levelheaded management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of right-wing nationalist politics in Poland and creeping Chinese government influence inside the Czech Republic.

See stories by Rob Schmitz