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Friday, July 30, 2010
| Make Florida More Hurricane-Resistant
published: Sep 28, 2009
by: Eli Lehrer and John Hallman
As hurricane-ridden September passes by, much of the news in Florida appears good: Hurricanes, so far, have stayed away from U.S. coastlines, the Legislature has passed a few common-sense reforms to the state's property insurance system and state CFO Alex Sink says that the state's troubled Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (Cat Fund) has gained a firmer fiscal footing. more... |
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| A catastrophe waiting to happen
published: Sep 15, 2009
by: Jonathan Orszag
This month marks the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. That raises a simple question: Are we prepared as a Nation for the next mega-catastrophe (one, perhaps, worse than Katrina) that will inevitably strike our country? more... |
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| The Meltdown Next Time: The financial danger nobody knows about.
published: Sep 12, 2009
by: Eli Lehrer
When the insurance giant American International Group was threatened with collapse in late 2008, its credit default swap business and other international operations were cited as the heart of its troubles. But the largest consequence of AIG's uncontrolled failure on consumers' pocketbooks could have come from the domino-like collapse of its businesses writing insurance on boats, cars, homes, lives, and just about everything else. If these businesses fell apart as a result of AIG's overall collapse, the argument went, the contagion could have brought a collapse of everything from retirement savings plans to auto insurance claims payments from companies unconnected to AIG. (In theory, the operations were firewalled from AIG's other operations, but the extremely slow rate at which they've found buyers indicates that many had significant exposure to the company's other woes.) more... |
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by: TribLIVE.com Oponion
published: Jun 13, 2009
With the onset of another hurricane season comes a federal initiative to save at-risk homeowners from their own ill-advised housing choices.
Legislation that would pool states' resources for homeowners in hurricane-prone areas only perpetuates the problem of building and rebuilding homes in the path of storms.
The Homeowners' Defense Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Fla., would involve more than 30 states and would ''spread the risk'' from hurricanes and other disasters, thereby reducing the cost for homeowners insurance. Similar legislation was supported by former Sen. Barack Obama before he graduated to spreading around the nation's wealth.
Washington would be on the hook for $200 billion under this plan.
Taxpayer groups oppose the measure for what it is: a bailout of property owners who rightfully should pay higher premiums for the risk they assume. Decades of data on U.S. hurricanes suggest where homes shouldn't be built. That risk shouldn't be assigned to other taxpayers.
Absent as well from Mr. Klein's disaster-mitigation proposal is the unintended effect it would have on encouraging more construction in high-risk areas as a result of cheaper insurance. And, subsequently, more federal assistance when new construction gets swept out to sea.
A disaster-mitigation policy should address problematic construction, not simply transfer homeowners' risk.
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