January 31, 2012
On issues ranging from heath care to financial regulation, Democrats and Republicans in Congress have almost nothing in common. And since most Americans say they want their political leaders to work together regardless of political party, their failure to cooperate on even the most trivial issues has sent Congress’ approval rating to all-time lows. In [...]
January 30, 2012
The National Association of Realtors, the largest U.S. trade association and one of its most powerful, has historically played a key role in blocking efforts to bring about significant reductions in size and scope of the National Flood Insurance Program. In addition to standing firmly against proposals to privatize the program, the NAR has questioned [...]
January 27, 2012
The emergence of China as a global economic power has generally been cheered by free-market advocates as the end result of a 30-year process of economic liberalization that has brought greater prosperity to billions. But despite granting much greater latitude for private enterprise than during the Cultural Revolution, modern China still holds fairly firm state [...]
January 26, 2012
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty, among other leaders, held a Jan. 25 rally at the State Capitol in Tallahassee to drum up support for efforts to overhaul Florida’s so-called “no fault” auto insurance system. Scott has outlined an approach he calls the “four pillars” of reform, [...]
January 25, 2012
Except for public health and some reasonable safety measures, when the government tells an industry how to run its core operations, the impact is not generally favorable to consumers. It’s true in manufacturing, transportation, utilities and also in financial services. In the insurance business, beating up or overregulating insurance companies or agents as a group [...]
January 24, 2012
This coming week, I’ll be testifying before a North Carolina study committee on that state’s auto insurance system. I’ve written a good deal about the system in the past. To preview my presentation, I have three basic points about the system that I hope the legislature takes into account in formulating a better system. North [...]
January 23, 2012
New Jersey Banking and Insurance Commissioner Tom Considine is set to step down next month to return to the private sector, Newark’s Star-Ledger newspaper is reporting. If true, it marks a real loss for the Garden State, as Considine has made great strides in simplifying New Jersey’s regulatory processes for insurance and promoting competitive, risk-based [...]
January 20, 2012
Third-party litigation funding, already a regular practice in countries like Australia and the United Kingdom, has seen growing interest in the United States in recent years. Buoyed by interest from institutional investors in search of new revenue streams, legal scholars have noted the practice is growing beyond its initial foothold in personal injury cases and [...]
January 18, 2012
With a sigh of relief, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Agency closes out the calendar year absent a major hurricane or other severe weather event. Only a hailstorm in January 2011 (which produced more than 8,800 claims) marked a relatively uneventful year for TWIA’s current policyholders. What is noteworthy is the number of new lawsuits brought [...]
January 18, 2012
I don’t always find myself in agreement with Dean Baker, co-director of the liberal Center for Economic and Policy Research. But over at his Beat the Press blog, Baker offers a useful economic primer for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. The author of the Protect Intellectual Property Act, which has prompted major websites [...]
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