Paying for Future Catastrophes

Submitted on 29th July 2015

(New York Times Opinion Piece) HURRICANE SANDY could cost the nation a staggering $50 billion, about a third of the cost of Hurricane Katrina to date the most costly disaster in United States history.
But Hurricane Sandy was not an isolated event. Indeed, the incidence of extreme events is far more frequent. Twenty of the 30 most expensive insured catastrophes worldwide from 1970 to 2011 have occurred since 2001 and 13 of them were in the United States. Aside from the 9/11 terrorist attacks, all were natural disasters. The increase is most likely because of the location in high-risk areas of more people, and more valuable properties, along with a changing climate.
Whats next? And who will pay?

Source
Wharton University of Pennsylvania
Length of Resource
3
Resource File
Author
ERWANN MICHEL-KERJAN and HOWARD KUNREUTHER
Date Published
Publication Type
article
Resource Type
academic