Are mom-and-pop stores going bankrupt at historically high levels? That would seem to be the impression you’d get from recent news reports referencing data released from Epiq Bankruptcy Analytics, a provider of legal services that specializes in bankruptcy services.
Uh-oh! Some have seen this as proof that Donald Trump’s policies are bankrupting Main Street. Well, no, not quite.
It is true that, according Epiq’s data, there were 2,221 filings for bankruptcy protection under a special provision for small businesses of the bankruptcy code – subchapter V – that was created for this purpose back in 2019. And it is true that the number of filings increased last year. But by how much? Ten. No, you’re not misreading this. There were…