If there is hope for a market solution to climate change it will be from the insurance/reinsurance industry. But, I don't think there is really any hope for it. The reason is that markets are inherently reactive, i.e. people *respond* to the conditions as they exist now. Second, the free rider problem. Costs are concentrated while benefits are diffuse. Individually, the cost to do something about global warming is pretty high. I would have to significantly change my life and spend money on things that don't give me immediate satisfaction. Even so, my action individually doesn't amount to anything if everyone else isn't doing it as well. Chances are that many people will make the calculation that they don't really need to do anything, that somebody else will fix it.
There will absolutely be a market for mitigating climate change because the cost and benefit are borne by the individual payer. Insurers and contractors know this. However, here will likely not be a market for stopping climate change; the cost is borne by the individual and the benefits are spread across the world. There is a possible market solution through insurance and reinsurance companies, but I don't think their buyers will be willing to pay the higher costs until they start to see major effects on their business. The only viable way to ensure that everyone pays is through taxes and creating a single payer for ending climate change. On Wed, May 15, 2013 at 4:26 PM, Eugene Coyle <[email protected]> wrote: > Actually they won't have to pay off on the annuities, and can plan for > that. Just keep the books locked up and all will be fine. > > On May 15, 2013, at 2:15 PM, Max Sawicky wrote: > > > Climate change doesn't necessarily seem to be a problem for the > insurance industry. More like an opportunity. When costs go up, so do > premiums. Some people get priced out of the market, so they don't get any > coverage. No problem. The rise in health care spending hasn't hurt health > insurance companies. > > > > Of course, the whole planet may melt, but that is no more a problem for > the inscos than everybody else. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Wed, May 15, 2013 at 4:43 PM, Jim Devine <[email protected]> wrote: > > Marv Gandall quotes: > > > The influential British financial columnist Martin Wolf, writing in > today's Financial Times, is much less sanguine, and offers his reasons why > he has given up on the prospect of any meaningful > > action against global warming - either at the top or from below.< > > > > didn't Philip K. Dick have a book about a world that is getting > > steadily hotter, with its main characters living in a shelter? > > -- > > Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your > > own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. > > _______________________________________________ > > pen-l mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > > > > _______________________________________________ > > pen-l mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l >
_______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
