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My car insurance is due. Though I am driving less, I expect the premium will go up. Nothing goes down these days except my bank account. I don’t feel particularly misused. The pendulum seems to swing in the same direction for everyone’s clock. Greater cost and lower service.
Let’s be honest. Donald Trump’s much-touted tax reform has done little for wage earners. Housing is expensive and our president’s ill-advised tariffs will only increase commodity prices for the consumer.
All this we know, of course. What has flown under the radar is the cost of cyber terrorism. Until now, whatever losses these activities inflicted upon companies, they were hidden because insurers covered the cost. But no more. Insurers never envisioned system shutdowns at the rate of hundreds of millions of dollars. (“Property Insurance May Not Cover Hack by Will Hadfield & Nate Lanson, Bloomberg Businessweek, April 292019, pg. 41.)
Cyber attacks are no longer the sole occupations of small-time scoundrels. Today, they are the weapon of choice in international conflicts. The World Economic Forum warns these assaults are now capable of bringing down a nation-state. (Ibid, pg. 42.)
The solution to this problem will require international cooperation. Certainly, insurance companies are unwilling and incapable of coping with that much risk. Even so, their premiums will rise because of that risk. In response, companies will do what they’ve always done, shift those obligations to their customers. Regrettably, this action occurs at a time when wages are stagnant. One wonders how much longer workers can take up the slack. When they can’t what next?
Some have already argued capitalism is doomed. They may be right, but for the wrong reason.
