Why U.S. Corporate Bankruptcies Could Skyrocket

Typically, as you would expect, corporate bankruptcies occur most frequently when the economy is bad. Marginal companies that were just hanging on in “good times” are the first to fail as money gets tighter.  The last spike in corporate bankruptcies was in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis. But in 2020, we saw another spike in bankruptcies from a different cause, i.e. COVID shutdowns. Despite government subsidies, bankruptcies soared, the economy tanked, and millions of people sat home and collected enhanced benefits. So now that we are halfway through 2021, how are we faring?