June has arrived and so has the nation’s official hurricane season. The New York Times called attention, last week, to the political battles associated with hurricanes and the increasing cost of homeowners insurance. Daniel Sutter, professor of economics at the University of Texas Pan American, published a timely paper with CEI yesterday that examines the relationship between climate change, government regulation of homeowners insurance, and property damage caused by hurricanes. Sutter’s important findings show that the increasing cost of homeowners insurance, and increasing costs of property damage caused by tropical storms, has more to do with the unintended consequences of government policy than with global warming:
“Existing public policies—including insurance regulation, government-subsidized flood insurance, improper mitigation, and faulty building code enforcement—contribute to unnecessarily risky and inefficient development along coastal areas by shifting the cost of hurricane damage ultimately onto third parties—mainly taxpayers. Poor policies lead to excessive vulnerability to hurricanes and would exacerbate the cost of any increase in storm activity, whether due to climate change or any other factor.”
Sutter’s paper is especially noteworthy right now as Congress debates whether to bailout beach house owners at U.S. taxpayer expense.
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Held to account?
I don't have all the answers, but I do have this one on disaster preparedness/recovery:
A letter pertaining to disaster (hurricane, earthquake, tornado, flood, fire, etc.) has been sent to President Obama on behalf of all insurance policyholders. As a matter of transparency on the record of insurance consumer protection, any response by President Obama will be posted on the following Website for review: http://www.disasterprepared.net/president.html
Qui potest et debet vetare, jubet: (Law Maxim)
HE WHO CAN AND OUGHT TO FORBID A THING [IF HE DO NOT FORBID IT] DIRECTS IT
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