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Is the world becoming uninsurable?

(charleshughsmith.substack.com)
478 points spking | 7 comments | 17 Jan 25 00:32 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
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bluedevil2k ◴[17 Jan 25 01:50 UTC] No.42733208[source]▶
Like we see in California, when the government sets a price ceiling, insurance companies just leave. Same in Florida. If the free market truly was allowed run normally, the insurance rates in Pacific Palisades or on the Florida coast would be so high that no one could afford to live there. Is that a bad thing? If someone was living in a house near where they tested missiles, we'd call them crazy. At what point can we say the same about people building and rebuilding over and over in these disaster areas.
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JKCalhoun ◴[17 Jan 25 04:11 UTC] No.42733984[source]▶
> when the government sets a price ceiling, insurance companies just leave…

> the insurance rates in Pacific Palisades or on the Florida coast would be so high that no one could afford to live there…

Seems like the result is the same — people will live there but without insurance.

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orange_joe ◴[17 Jan 25 04:12 UTC] No.42733995[source]▶
worse, you’ll be paying to bail them out in the name of solidarity.
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1. urhmbutwait ◴[17 Jan 25 04:32 UTC] No.42734108[source]▶
That’s insurance?

Change the euphemism from government to private insurance to satisfy capitalism gods and keep their giant foot from squishing us… still “on the books” as a co-mingled pool of funds to shift around to solve problems.

Aw …sad… other people exist and need resources too. Not just about your first world skin suit playing temp host to a run of the mill electromagnetic field effect.

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2. typewithrhythm ◴[17 Jan 25 05:23 UTC] No.42734361[source]▶
People choose where they live, and should bear the cost relative to the amount of risk they chose to take. Government funding is not a magical blanket that somehow makes it moral to take from someone who made good decisions and give to another who made poor ones.
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3. _factor ◴[17 Jan 25 06:21 UTC] No.42734625[source]▶
I’m building my next house right on an active volcano. Thank you for subsidizing my idiocy. You should see the view!
4. athrowaway3z ◴[17 Jan 25 06:39 UTC] No.42734742[source]▶
The dutch aren't insured against a dike breaking (Which has its own history).

But the dikes have been collectively maintained through laws and regulation from a local semi-democratic system for 800 years (separate from government). It was a necessity as 1 delinquent could screw up everything.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_board_(Netherlands)

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5. hb-robo ◴[17 Jan 25 14:44 UTC] No.42737995[source]▶
I get that we're on a tech forum but the vast, vast majority of people in this country don't have the financial ability to just move wherever they want. I'm not saying that means that Floridians shouldn't worry about this, but this bootstraps narrative is ridiculous. Everyone here makes substantially more money than the average Joe.
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6. gruez ◴[17 Jan 25 14:45 UTC] No.42738011{3}[source]▶
The point is that the costs (to build the dikes) are fully internalized by the people who live there, rather than being cross-subsidized by people far away.
7. elevatedastalt ◴[17 Jan 25 19:00 UTC] No.42741978{3}[source]▶
Agreed in general, but is it reasonable to say to people living in multi-million dollar houses on some of the world's most coveted real estate that they are should assume the risks of it? Or move?