Hardware Podcasts

How climate disasters are shaping insurance markets

Catalyst · 10 Apr 2025 · 33m

What this episode covers

Dr. Judd Boomhower, an assistant professor of economics at UC San Diego and faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, explains why homeowners insurance markets are destabilizing due to climate change. He details how catastrophe models (cat models) struggle to predict losses because they rely on limited historical data, forcing insurers to use broad-brush decisions to pull back coverage in high-risk areas like California and Florida. Boomhower also discusses the critical role of reinsurance, the rise of undercapitalized 'fly-by-night' insurers, and the potential of parametric insurance to reduce contracting friction despite basis risk.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

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EnergyHub
Also
UC San Diego, National Bureau of Economic Research

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