Federally and state subsidized flood and wind insurance have encouraged overbuilding in coastal zones, thereby worsening the economic destructiveness of hurricanes and severe storms. Governments should stop subsidizing activity in hazardous areas and instead allow the market for coastal property insurance to encourage individuals to exercise greater caution by building sturdier buildings and moving farther from the coast.
Jeffrey J. Pompe is Professor of Business at Francis Marion University and a contributor to Re-Thinking Green: Alternatives to Environmental Bureaucracy.
James R. Rinehart is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and professor emeritus of economics at Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina.
Economic PolicyEconomyEnergy and the EnvironmentEnvironmental Law and RegulationLand UseLaw and LibertyProperty Rights, Land Use, and Zoning
Other Independent Review articles by Jeffrey J. Pompe
Spring 2011 The Cultural and Political Economy of Recovery: Social Learning in a Post-Disaster Environment
Spring 1997 Entrepreneurship and Coastal Resource Management
Other Independent Review articles by James R. Rinehart
Spring 1997 Entrepreneurship and Coastal Resource Management