Articles by R.J. Lehmann

The L&E Blog on Insurance Journal presents the work and viewpoints of The International Center for Law & Economics. R.J. Lehmann is editor-in-chief and senior fellow of the International Center for Law and Economics.

Shelby’s Financial Reforms Could Face Problems on the Floor

The Hill is reporting that the Senate Banking Committee’s more moderate Democrats intend to vote against the financial services reform package put together by Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., at this morning’s mark-up session. The news won’t have immediate impact, as …

Laffer: Keep Protectionist Reinsurance Tax Out of Tax Reform

A proposal to bar insurers from claiming a tax deduction for premiums ceded to offshore affiliates would cost the U.S. economy $1.35 billion in gross domestic product, with private sector losses estimated to run roughly four times as great as …

New Study Shows How Florida Citizens Subsidizes the Rich

The policy subsidies offered by Florida’s state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. flow disproportionately to the wealthy and, in concert with similarly regressive subsidies from the National Flood Insurance Program, serve primarily to encourage more development in risky regions along the …

Uber’s Not in Kansas Anymore; Will New Jersey Be Next?

The decision by the Kansas Legislature earlier this week to override Gov. Sam Brownback’s veto of onerous ridesharing legislation already is yielding its inevitable consequence. Transportation network company Uber has announced it plans to pull out of the state before …

Detroit Mayor’s Insurance Plan Crashes Head-on into Reality

We have seen over and over the folly of government-run insurance schemes. Whether it’s the National Flood Insurance Program, the Federal Crop Insurance Corp., the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the Federal Housing Administration or the …

Risk Transfer Success Leads to Ratings Upgrades for Florida Citizens

It’s an exceedingly rare thing that I’d ever point to anything my adoptive state of Florida does in the area of insurance markets as an example that others might want to copy. But in at least one important respect, recent …

Michigan House Could Vote This Week on Auto Insurance Reforms

For a brief moment early this year, social media made James Robertson an international celebrity. The story of the 56–year-old Detroit man whose commute involved both an arduous bus ride and walking 21 miles every day inspired an online fundraising …

Why Disaster Policy Matters

A major plot point of the most recent season of Netflix’s House of Cards saw fictional President Frank Underwood try to exploit the Stafford Act’s vague definition of a “disaster” to divert the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s entire budget toward …

CEA Says It’s Seen No Fracking-Related Earthquake Claims

The California Earthquake Authority, the state-run insurance pool that is the primary source of residential earthquake coverage in the Golden State, says it hasn’t received any claims that assert human-caused activity like hydraulic fracturing or deep-well injection were the cause. …

It’s Time for Open Data in Insurance

The National Association of Police Organizations is a non-profit group that represents and serves police officers, police unions and local police associations. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners is a non-profit group that represents and serves insurance regulators from the …