A View From The Press Box

For those of you who don't believe you can ever have too much of a good thing, consider the fact that The Hartford just came out with a plan of its own to alleviate the fallout from another catastrophic windstorm for homeowners and insurers, as well as the federal and state governments. While Hartford's plan is intriguing, thoughtful, comprehensive and well-meaning, it is but one of many put forth by industry figures. How is the industry, the states and Uncle Sam supposed to come to a consensus amid such a cacophony?

What might insurance company CEOs learn from Monty Python's "Spamalot," you might ask? NU Associate Editor Mark Ruquet filed a column in this week's NU in which he made the leap, arguing that by listening to their legal departments more than their PR and marketing experts, they end up doing their images more harm than good, and undermining their reputations in the long run. Read on and feel free to offer your own take.

The battle lines were drawn yesterday in Las Vegas in the first of two debates over state versus federal regulation between AIA President Marc Racicot and NAIC President Sandy Praeger, with yours truly serving as referee. Read on for the skinny on the key points each side scored, and feel free to weigh in with your own views.

The Onion, a weekly "newspaper" for which every day is April Fool's, had me in stitches with its recent page one story: "Recession-Plagued Nation Demands New Bubble To Invest In!" The only problem was, as with all good humor, this joke rang too true, especially after seeing what the lousy economy is doing to my retirement accounts and the insurance industry.

Staying on my "Onion" theme for the week, this hilarious picture of Al Gore loading his child onto a rocket ship to escape Earth's collapsing ecosystem--a la the story line in "Superman"--is hilarious, poking fun at the most serious and outspoken critic of man's inaction in the face of the global warming threat. But all kidding aside, as a good risk manager, isn't it better to be safe than sorry with an exposure potentially this huge?

What does it take to keep people from being hurt on the job, and get them back to work as fast as possible when injuries inevitably occur--all while treating them with respect and concern, and without busting your loss control budget? To see how the best in the business handle such challenges, check out the profiles of this year’s three winners in the second annual National Underwriter Award For Excellence In Workers’ Compensation Risk Management.

With everyone cutting back on their driving in the face of sky-high gas prices, should auto insurers be cutting their rates to reflect this reality? The evidence is far from clear.

The debate over skyrocketing gas prices and what impact, if any, that should have on auto insurance rates, made me realize that both oil and insurance are industries plagued by a glaring lack of understanding on the part of the public about basic economic facts--ignorance shamefully exploited by politicians like John McCain to create scapegoats and win votes.

I was really disappointed to hear Barack Obama pick fellow senator Joe Biden as his vice presidential nominee. While I had long since given up hope of his choosing Hillary Clinton, I thought a fine compromise option--and certainly the most intriguing candidate from the insurance industry's perspective--would be Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, former president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Given the fact that neither Democrats nor Republicans can be trusted to resist the temptation to exploit the public's misunderstanding and ignorance about insurance, isn't it about time the industry formed its own party and fielded its own candidates for elective office--starting with this year's presidential race?

John McCain keeps insisting that his Democratic opponent isn't "ready" to be president. As the unofficial chair (and probably only member) of the Insurers For Obama Committee, this is how I think Barack Obama should respond in his nomination speech tomorrow night.

In honor of the upcoming Labor Day, and with so many Americans suffering job insecurity in these tough economic times, is it time to ask whether public risk managers are at risk, given the budget crunch facing state, county and city governments as tax revenue falls? That's the question posed today by NU Assistant Managing Editor Caroline McDonald, who has heard some disturbing talk in the market.