[EGreg]

It works like this:

Companies have limited liability in the USA. They are subject to full market discipline. The owners of the companies are not.

And thus ... business between companies should take precautions such as getting paid a retainer, at milestones, etc. and assume that some payments will not be coming.

Meanwhile people (e.g. employees) can rely on the government to put heavy pressure on employers to pay them. I am in favor of more direct guarantees of basic living standards -- i.e. a basic income -- such as some European countries are doing. That way even the employer-employee relationship can be less regulated.