A View from the Press Box

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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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