The Insurance Industry and Systemic Risk: Evidence and Discussion

The financial market events in September 2008 seem unprecedented in modern times. While other systemically important events happened in the last thirty years affecting U.S. markets, the one month turmoil and government response is without equal. As a result, insurance industry economists have been dusting off dictionaries and looking up what systemic risk really means. Further, there are other policy analysts who are linking the insurance industry to systemic risk with a potential goal of changing the governmental level at which the entire industry is regulated. Systemic risk and the role insurers play in the market is of concern to both state regulators and Congress. This paper presents evidence regarding systemic effect of insurers and will discuss this in light of the rationale for federal regulation of the insurance industry.