Argentina has tried to pay interest on the new bonds, but banks unwilling to violate the judge’s orders have refused to do so in London as well as in New York. In Argentina, the local Citibank branch has persuaded the judge to agree to allow three interest payments on those bonds, but he has not promised to allow future payments.

Owners of the English-law bonds are trying to persuade a British court to order the banks to pay the money. If that happens, the banks could be in a position of having to decide which court order to obey.

Argentina says it will try to exchange the New York-law bonds — over which Judge Griesa clearly has jurisdiction — for new bonds issued under Argentine law. But some bondholders fear that by accepting such an exchange they might be deemed in violation of the judge’s order. We could have the spectacle of a bondholder being held in contempt of court for accepting an interest payment.

In corporate bankruptcies, creditors that must lose money on their loans are often given equity in the company that will emerge, offering at least a possibility of a better recovery if the restructured company prospers.

You can’t get stock in a country, but Argentina tried something similar. Its exchange bonds included provisions increasing the return if the country’s economy grew rapidly enough. It did, and bondholders have done better than it appeared they would initially.

It is not clear how broadly the Argentine precedent will be applied in future cases. The appeals court, in upholding Judge Griesa’s ruling, listed several actions taken by Argentina that it considered outrageous. But it did not clarify whether a country that committed only some, or even none, of those acts could be sure that it would not be treated in the same way.

Those who back Judge Griesa tend to see the issue as a matter of black and white. Argentina promised to pay, and it must honor its promises. Those appalled by the judge’s decision are more inclined to, in effect, worry about those Rhode Island “men of honest minds and virtuous dispositions” who were suffering through no fault of their own.