<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head><base href="/"><title>Lessons from Hurricane Harvey: Federal Flood Insurance is the Problem, Not the Solution</title><meta charset="UTF-8"><meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge,chrome=1"><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1,maximum-scale=1,user-scalable=no"><link rel="canonical" itemprop="url" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/2017/08/30/lessons-from-hurricane-harvey-federal-flood-insurance-is-the-problem-not-the-solution/"><script>!function(e){function n(r){if(t[r])return t[r].exports;var o=t[r]={i:r,l:!1,exports:{}};return e[r].call(o.exports,o,o.exports,n),o.l=!0,o.exports}var r=window.webpackJsonp;window.webpackJsonp=function(t,c,a){for(var i,u,f,s=0,d=[];s<t.length;s++)u=t[s],o[u]&&d.push(o[u][0]),o[u]=0;for(i in c)Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(c,i)&&(e[i]=c[i]);for(r&&r(t,c,a);d.length;)d.shift()();if(a)for(s=0;s<a.length;s++)f=n(n.s=a[s]);return f};var t={},o={6:0};n.e=function(e){function r(){i.onerror=i.onload=null,clearTimeout(u);var n=o[e];0!==n&&(n&&n[1](new Error("Loading chunk "+e+" failed.")),o[e]=void 0)}var t=o[e];if(0===t)return new Promise(function(e){e()});if(t)return t[2];var c=new Promise(function(n,r){t=o[e]=[n,r]});t[2]=c;var a=document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0],i=document.createElement("script");i.type="text/javascript",i.charset="utf-8",i.async=!0,i.timeout=12e4,n.nc&&i.setAttribute("nonce",n.nc),i.src=n.p+""+{0:"b3056f14109d40f516b9",1:"0d7683a639ce670fd024",2:"592cd7ae7764dbb9d67f",3:"cea8367bd577e5ce4f5e",4:"a17266e441f78003f801",5:"5cce5763d5fae8f227ba"}[e]+"."+e+".chunk.js";var u=setTimeout(r,12e4);return i.onerror=i.onload=r,a.appendChild(i),c},n.m=e,n.c=t,n.d=function(e,r,t){n.o(e,r)||Object.defineProperty(e,r,{configurable:!1,enumerable:!0,get:t})},n.n=function(e){var r=e&&e.__esModule?function(){return e.default}:function(){return e};return n.d(r,"a",r),r},n.o=function(e,n){return Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(e,n)},n.p="https://i.forbesimg.com/ng2/",n.oe=function(e){throw console.error(e),e}}([])</script><script type="text/javascript" src="https://i.forbesimg.com/ng2/592cd7ae7764dbb9d67f.polyfills.js" defer="defer"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="https://i.forbesimg.com/ng2/cea8367bd577e5ce4f5e.vendors.js" defer="defer"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="https://i.forbesimg.com/ng2/5cce5763d5fae8f227ba.fbs.js" defer="defer"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="https://i.forbesimg.com/ng2/a17266e441f78003f801.app.js" defer="defer"></script><style ng-transition="ng-templates">html{font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1.15;-ms-text-size-adjust:100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust:100%}body{margin:0}article,aside,footer,header,nav,section{display:block}h1{font-size:2em;margin:0.67em 0}figcaption,figure,main{display:block}figure{margin:1em 40px}hr{box-sizing:content-box;height:0;overflow:visible}pre{font-family:monospace, monospace;font-size:1em}a{background-color:transparent;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:objects}a:active,a:hover{outline-width:0}abbr[title]{border-bottom:none;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline dotted}b,strong{font-weight:inherit}b,strong{font-weight:bolder}code,kbd,samp{font-family:monospace, monospace;font-size:1em}dfn{font-style:italic}mark{background-color:#ff0;color:#000}small{font-size:80%}sub,sup{font-size:75%;line-height:0;position:relative;vertical-align:baseline}sub{bottom:-0.25em}sup{top:-0.5em}audio,video{display:inline-block}audio:not([controls]){display:none;height:0}img{border-style:none}svg:not(:root){overflow:hidden}button,input,optgroup,select,textarea{font-family:sans-serif;font-size:100%;line-height:1.15;margin:0}button,input{overflow:visible}button,select{text-transform:none}button,html [type="button"],[type="reset"],[type="submit"]{-webkit-appearance:button}button::-moz-focus-inner,[type="button"]::-moz-focus-inner,[type="reset"]::-moz-focus-inner,[type="submit"]::-moz-focus-inner{border-style:none;padding:0}button:-moz-focusring,[type="button"]:-moz-focusring,[type="reset"]:-moz-focusring,[type="submit"]:-moz-focusring{outline:1px dotted ButtonText}fieldset{border:1px solid #c0c0c0;margin:0 2px;padding:0.35em 0.625em 0.75em}legend{box-sizing:border-box;color:inherit;display:table;max-width:100%;padding:0;white-space:normal}progress{display:inline-block;vertical-align:baseline}textarea{overflow:auto}[type="checkbox"],[type="radio"]{box-sizing:border-box;padding:0}[type="number"]::-webkit-inner-spin-button,[type="number"]::-webkit-outer-spin-button{height:auto}[type="search"]{-webkit-appearance:textfield;outline-offset:-2px}[type="search"]::-webkit-search-cancel-button,[type="search"]::-webkit-search-decoration{-webkit-appearance:none}::-webkit-file-upload-button{-webkit-appearance:button;font:inherit}details,menu{display:block}summary{display:list-item}canvas{display:inline-block}template{display:none}[hidden]{display:none}*,*:before,*:after{box-sizing:border-box}html,body{width:100%;height:100%;font-family:"Avenir","Noto Sans","Droid Sans","Helvetica Neue",Corbel,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;text-rendering:optimizeLegibility;-webkit-font-feature-settings:'kern';font-feature-settings:'kern';-webkit-font-kerning:normal;-moz-font-kerning:normal;font-kerning:normal;-webkit-font-variant-ligatures:common-ligatures;font-variant-ligatures:common-ligatures}img{width:auto;max-width:100%;height:auto !important;display:block}figure{margin:0}figure img{display:block;max-width:100%}a{cursor:pointer;color:inherit}button{border:none;outline:none;padding:0;background:none;cursor:pointer}i,em{font-style:italic}b,strong{font-weight:bold}table{border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0}p a{color:#003891}p a:hover{text-decoration:underline}.container{margin-right:auto;margin-left:auto;padding-left:15px;padding-right:15px}.container:before,.container:after{content:" ";display:table}.container:after{clear:both}@media (min-width: 768px){.container{width:750px}}@media (min-width: 1024px){.container{width:970px}}@media (min-width: 1230px){.container{width:1170px}}.container-fluid{margin-right:auto;margin-left:auto;padding-left:15px;padding-right:15px}.container-fluid:before,.container-fluid:after{content:" ";display:table}.container-fluid:after{clear:both}.row{margin-left:-15px;margin-right:-15px}.row:before,.row:after{content:" ";display:table}.row:after{clear:both}.col-xs-1,.col-sm-1,.col-md-1,.col-lg-1,.col-xs-2,.col-sm-2,.col-md-2,.col-lg-2,.col-xs-3,.col-sm-3,.col-md-3,.col-lg-3,.col-xs-4,.col-sm-4,.col-md-4,.col-lg-4,.col-xs-5,.col-sm-5,.col-md-5,.col-lg-5,.col-xs-6,.col-sm-6,.col-md-6,.col-lg-6,.col-xs-7,.col-sm-7,.col-md-7,.col-lg-7,.col-xs-8,.col-sm-8,.col-md-8,.col-lg-8,.col-xs-9,.col-sm-9,.col-md-9,.col-lg-9,.col-xs-10,.col-sm-10,.col-md-10,.col-lg-10,.col-xs-11,.col-sm-11,.col-md-11,.col-lg-11,.col-xs-12,.col-sm-12,.col-md-12,.col-lg-12{position:relative;min-height:1px;padding-left:15px;padding-right:15px}.col-xs-1,.col-xs-2,.col-xs-3,.col-xs-4,.col-xs-5,.col-xs-6,.col-xs-7,.col-xs-8,.col-xs-9,.col-xs-10,.col-xs-11,.col-xs-12{float:left}.col-xs-1{width:8.33333%}.col-xs-2{width:16.66667%}.col-xs-3{width:25%}.col-xs-4{width:33.33333%}.col-xs-5{width:41.66667%}.col-xs-6{width:50%}.col-xs-7{width:58.33333%}.col-xs-8{width:66.66667%}.col-xs-9{width:75%}.col-xs-10{width:83.33333%}.col-xs-11{width:91.66667%}.col-xs-12{width:100%}.col-xs-pull-0{right:auto}.col-xs-pull-1{right:8.33333%}.col-xs-pull-2{right:16.66667%}.col-xs-pull-3{right:25%}.col-xs-pull-4{right:33.33333%}.col-xs-pull-5{right:41.66667%}.col-xs-pull-6{right:50%}.col-xs-pull-7{right:58.33333%}.col-xs-pull-8{right:66.66667%}.col-xs-pull-9{right:75%}.col-xs-pull-10{right:83.33333%}.col-xs-pull-11{right:91.66667%}.col-xs-pull-12{right:100%}.col-xs-push-0{left:auto}.col-xs-push-1{left:8.33333%}.col-xs-push-2{left:16.66667%}.col-xs-push-3{left:25%}.col-xs-push-4{left:33.33333%}.col-xs-push-5{left:41.66667%}.col-xs-push-6{left:50%}.col-xs-push-7{left:58.33333%}.col-xs-push-8{left:66.66667%}.col-xs-push-9{left:75%}.col-xs-push-10{left:83.33333%}.col-xs-push-11{left:91.66667%}.col-xs-push-12{left:100%}.col-xs-offset-0{margin-left:0%}.col-xs-offset-1{margin-left:8.33333%}.col-xs-offset-2{margin-left:16.66667%}.col-xs-offset-3{margin-left:25%}.col-xs-offset-4{margin-left:33.33333%}.col-xs-offset-5{margin-left:41.66667%}.col-xs-offset-6{margin-left:50%}.col-xs-offset-7{margin-left:58.33333%}.col-xs-offset-8{margin-left:66.66667%}.col-xs-offset-9{margin-left:75%}.col-xs-offset-10{margin-left:83.33333%}.col-xs-offset-11{margin-left:91.66667%}.col-xs-offset-12{margin-left:100%}@media (min-width: 768px){.col-sm-1,.col-sm-2,.col-sm-3,.col-sm-4,.col-sm-5,.col-sm-6,.col-sm-7,.col-sm-8,.col-sm-9,.col-sm-10,.col-sm-11,.col-sm-12{float:left}.col-sm-1{width:8.33333%}.col-sm-2{width:16.66667%}.col-sm-3{width:25%}.col-sm-4{width:33.33333%}.col-sm-5{width:41.66667%}.col-sm-6{width:50%}.col-sm-7{width:58.33333%}.col-sm-8{width:66.66667%}.col-sm-9{width:75%}.col-sm-10{width:83.33333%}.col-sm-11{width:91.66667%}.col-sm-12{width:100%}.col-sm-pull-0{right:auto}.col-sm-pull-1{right:8.33333%}.col-sm-pull-2{right:16.66667%}.col-sm-pull-3{right:25%}.col-sm-pull-4{right:33.33333%}.col-sm-pull-5{right:41.66667%}.col-sm-pull-6{right:50%}.col-sm-pull-7{right:58.33333%}.col-sm-pull-8{right:66.66667%}.col-sm-pull-9{right:75%}.col-sm-pull-10{right:83.33333%}.col-sm-pull-11{right:91.66667%}.col-sm-pull-12{right:100%}.col-sm-push-0{left:auto}.col-sm-push-1{left:8.33333%}.col-sm-push-2{left:16.66667%}.col-sm-push-3{left:25%}.col-sm-push-4{left:33.33333%}.col-sm-push-5{left:41.66667%}.col-sm-push-6{left:50%}.col-sm-push-7{left:58.33333%}.col-sm-push-8{left:66.66667%}.col-sm-push-9{left:75%}.col-sm-push-10{left:83.33333%}.col-sm-push-11{left:91.66667%}.col-sm-push-12{left:100%}.col-sm-offset-0{margin-left:0%}.col-sm-offset-1{margin-left:8.33333%}.col-sm-offset-2{margin-left:16.66667%}.col-sm-offset-3{margin-left:25%}.col-sm-offset-4{margin-left:33.33333%}.col-sm-offset-5{margin-left:41.66667%}.col-sm-offset-6{margin-left:50%}.col-sm-offset-7{margin-left:58.33333%}.col-sm-offset-8{margin-left:66.66667%}.col-sm-offset-9{margin-left:75%}.col-sm-offset-10{margin-left:83.33333%}.col-sm-offset-11{margin-left:91.66667%}.col-sm-offset-12{margin-left:100%}}@media (min-width: 1024px){.col-md-1,.col-md-2,.col-md-3,.col-md-4,.col-md-5,.col-md-6,.col-md-7,.col-md-8,.col-md-9,.col-md-10,.col-md-11,.col-md-12{float:left}.col-md-1{width:8.33333%}.col-md-2{width:16.66667%}.col-md-3{width:25%}.col-md-4{width:33.33333%}.col-md-5{width:41.66667%}.col-md-6{width:50%}.col-md-7{width:58.33333%}.col-md-8{width:66.66667%}.col-md-9{width:75%}.col-md-10{width:83.33333%}.col-md-11{width:91.66667%}.col-md-12{width:100%}.col-md-pull-0{right:auto}.col-md-pull-1{right:8.33333%}.col-md-pull-2{right:16.66667%}.col-md-pull-3{right:25%}.col-md-pull-4{right:33.33333%}.col-md-pull-5{right:41.66667%}.col-md-pull-6{right:50%}.col-md-pull-7{right:58.33333%}.col-md-pull-8{right:66.66667%}.col-md-pull-9{right:75%}.col-md-pull-10{right:83.33333%}.col-md-pull-11{right:91.66667%}.col-md-pull-12{right:100%}.col-md-push-0{left:auto}.col-md-push-1{left:8.33333%}.col-md-push-2{left:16.66667%}.col-md-push-3{left:25%}.col-md-push-4{left:33.33333%}.col-md-push-5{left:41.66667%}.col-md-push-6{left:50%}.col-md-push-7{left:58.33333%}.col-md-push-8{left:66.66667%}.col-md-push-9{left:75%}.col-md-push-10{left:83.33333%}.col-md-push-11{left:91.66667%}.col-md-push-12{left:100%}.col-md-offset-0{margin-left:0%}.col-md-offset-1{margin-left:8.33333%}.col-md-offset-2{margin-left:16.66667%}.col-md-offset-3{margin-left:25%}.col-md-offset-4{margin-left:33.33333%}.col-md-offset-5{margin-left:41.66667%}.col-md-offset-6{margin-left:50%}.col-md-offset-7{margin-left:58.33333%}.col-md-offset-8{margin-left:66.66667%}.col-md-offset-9{margin-left:75%}.col-md-offset-10{margin-left:83.33333%}.col-md-offset-11{margin-left:91.66667%}.col-md-offset-12{margin-left:100%}}@media (min-width: 1230px){.col-lg-1,.col-lg-2,.col-lg-3,.col-lg-4,.col-lg-5,.col-lg-6,.col-lg-7,.col-lg-8,.col-lg-9,.col-lg-10,.col-lg-11,.col-lg-12{float:left}.col-lg-1{width:8.33333%}.col-lg-2{width:16.66667%}.col-lg-3{width:25%}.col-lg-4{width:33.33333%}.col-lg-5{width:41.66667%}.col-lg-6{width:50%}.col-lg-7{width:58.33333%}.col-lg-8{width:66.66667%}.col-lg-9{width:75%}.col-lg-10{width:83.33333%}.col-lg-11{width:91.66667%}.col-lg-12{width:100%}.col-lg-pull-0{right:auto}.col-lg-pull-1{right:8.33333%}.col-lg-pull-2{right:16.66667%}.col-lg-pull-3{right:25%}.col-lg-pull-4{right:33.33333%}.col-lg-pull-5{right:41.66667%}.col-lg-pull-6{right:50%}.col-lg-pull-7{right:58.33333%}.col-lg-pull-8{right:66.66667%}.col-lg-pull-9{right:75%}.col-lg-pull-10{right:83.33333%}.col-lg-pull-11{right:91.66667%}.col-lg-pull-12{right:100%}.col-lg-push-0{left:auto}.col-lg-push-1{left:8.33333%}.col-lg-push-2{left:16.66667%}.col-lg-push-3{left:25%}.col-lg-push-4{left:33.33333%}.col-lg-push-5{left:41.66667%}.col-lg-push-6{left:50%}.col-lg-push-7{left:58.33333%}.col-lg-push-8{left:66.66667%}.col-lg-push-9{left:75%}.col-lg-push-10{left:83.33333%}.col-lg-push-11{left:91.66667%}.col-lg-push-12{left:100%}.col-lg-offset-0{margin-left:0%}.col-lg-offset-1{margin-left:8.33333%}.col-lg-offset-2{margin-left:16.66667%}.col-lg-offset-3{margin-left:25%}.col-lg-offset-4{margin-left:33.33333%}.col-lg-offset-5{margin-left:41.66667%}.col-lg-offset-6{margin-left:50%}.col-lg-offset-7{margin-left:58.33333%}.col-lg-offset-8{margin-left:66.66667%}.col-lg-offset-9{margin-left:75%}.col-lg-offset-10{margin-left:83.33333%}.col-lg-offset-11{margin-left:91.66667%}.col-lg-offset-12{margin-left:100%}}.clearfix:before,.clearfix:after{content:" ";display:table}.clearfix:after{clear:both}.pull-right{float:right !important}.pull-left{float:left !important}.fs-hidden{display:none !important}.fs-clearfix:before,.fs-clearfix:after{content:" ";display:table}.fs-clearfix:after{clear:both}body{font-size:.9375em;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased}@media (min-width: 480px){body{font-size:calc(.9375em + (18 - 15) * (100vw - 480px) / (1400 - 480))}}@media (min-width: 1400px){body{font-size:1.125em}}h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,ul,li,ol{-webkit-margin-before:0;-webkit-margin-after:0}h1,.fs-text-xxl{font-size:2.5rem;font-weight:normal}h2,.fs-text-xl{font-size:2rem;font-weight:normal}h3,.fs-text-l{font-size:1.5rem;font-weight:normal}h4,.fs-text-m{font-size:1.25rem;font-weight:normal}h5,.fs-text-s{font-size:0.875rem;font-weight:normal}h6,.fs-text-xs{font-size:0.75rem;font-weight:normal}small,.fs-text-xxs{font-size:0.625rem;font-weight:normal}h1.fs-responsive-text,.fs-text-xxl.fs-responsive-text{font-size:2.5em}h2.fs-responsive-text,.fs-text-xl.fs-responsive-text{font-size:2em}h3.fs-responsive-text,.fs-text-l.fs-responsive-text{font-size:1.5em}h4.fs-responsive-text,.fs-text-m.fs-responsive-text{font-size:1.25em}h5.fs-responsive-text,.fs-text-s.fs-responsive-text{font-size:0.875em}h6.fs-responsive-text,.fs-text-xs.fs-responsive-text{font-size:0.75em}.fs-text-xxs.fs-responsive-text{font-size:0.625em}.fs-headline{line-height:1.25;font-family:"Georgia","Cambria","Times New Roman","Times",serif;font-weight:normal;margin:0}.fs-text-margin{margin:1.6rem 0}ul{list-style:none;-webkit-padding-start:0}button,input,optgroup,select,textarea{font-family:inherit}.fs-text-link{color:#003891;cursor:pointer;text-decoration:none;background-image:linear-gradient(rgba(0,56,145,0.5), rgba(0,56,145,0.5));background-size:1px 1px;background-repeat:repeat-x;background-position:0 1.2em;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent}.fs-text-link:before,.fs-text-link:after,.fs-text-link *,.fs-text-link *:before,.fs-text-link *:after{text-shadow:none}.fs-text-link:visited{color:#003891}.fs-text-link:hover{background-image:linear-gradient(#003891, #003891)}@media (min-width: 48rem){.fs-text-link{background-position:0 1.3em}}.fs-card{padding:1em 0}.fs-card:before,.fs-card:after{content:" ";display:table}.fs-card:after{clear:both}.fs-card-metric{font-size:0.75rem;font-weight:normal;color:gray;display:block;line-height:1;margin-bottom:1em}.fs-card-metric span{margin-right:1.5em}.fs-card-metric-type{font-weight:bold;color:#999}.fs-card-metric-time{font-style:italic;color:#666}.fs-card-metric-views{color:#333}.fs-card-thumb{width:20%;margin-right:1em;float:left;max-width:200px}.fs-card--basic .fs-card-thumb:after{background:gray;content:'';display:block;padding-top:100%;width:100%}.fs-card-info{overflow:auto}.fs-author{display:block;font-style:normal}.fs-author:before,.fs-author:after{content:" ";display:table}.fs-author:after{clear:both}.fs-author-avatar{width:20%;max-width:1em;margin-right:1em;float:left;position:relative}.fs-author-image{border:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.15);max-width:100%;border-radius:50%;overflow:hidden}.fs-author-badge{font-size:0.875rem;font-weight:normal;position:absolute;right:0;bottom:0}.fs-author-badge .icon-flame{background:#ffc000;border-radius:50%;width:1.5em;height:1.5em;display:inline-block;line-height:1.5em;text-align:center}.fs-author-name{font-weight:bold}.fs-author--inline{margin-top:.5em}.fs-author--inline .fs-author-info{line-height:1em}.fs-author--inline .fs-author-avatar{margin-right:.5em}.fs-author--inline .fs-author-byline{font-size:0.75rem;font-weight:normal}.fs-author--inline .fs-author-title{margin-left:.5em}.fs-card-description{font-size:0.75em;color:#4D4D4D;line-height:1.5;overflow:auto;margin:.5em 0 0;display:none}@media (min-width: 768px){.fs-card-description{display:block}}.fs-card--dark{color:#fff}.fs-card--dark .fs-author-title .icon-staff-verified{color:rgba(255,255,255,0.7)}.fs-card--cover .fs-card-content{position:relative;overflow:hidden}.fs-card--cover .fs-card-content:before{content:"";display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%}.fs-card--cover .fs-card-thumb{position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;bottom:0;width:100%;margin-right:auto;float:none;max-width:none}.fs-card--cover .fs-card-thumb:after{background-image:linear-gradient(to bottom, transparent, rgba(0,0,0,0.8));bottom:0;content:'';left:0;position:absolute;right:0;top:-2em}.fs-card--cover .fs-card-info{position:absolute;left:0;right:0;bottom:0;padding:1em;z-index:1}.fs-card--cover .fs-headline{font-size:1.25em}.fs-card--cover .fs-card-thumb{background-size:cover}.fs-article{line-height:1.5;max-width:42em}.fs-article h1,.fs-article h2,.fs-article h3,.fs-article h4,.fs-article h5,.fs-article h6,.fs-article p,.fs-article ol,.fs-article pre,.fs-article table,.fs-article blockquote{margin:1.6rem 0}.fs-article>div:first-child>:first-child{margin-top:0}.fs-article a{text-decoration:none;color:#003891}.fs-article a:hover{text-decoration:underline}.fs-article .table-wrapper{margin:10px 0;overflow-x:auto}.fs-article td,.fs-article th{padding:3px 5px;vertical-align:top;font-size:0.75em}.fs-article thead tr{background:#ccc}.fs-article thead th{font-weight:bold;vertical-align:bottom;border-bottom:2px solid #fff;border-left:1px solid #fff}.fs-article tbody tr{border-bottom:2px solid #fff}.fs-article tbody tr:nth-child(odd){background:#F2F2F2}.fs-article tbody tr:nth-child(even){background:#E6E6E6}.fs-article tbody td{border-left:1px solid #fff}.fs-article tbody td p{margin:0}.fs-article tfoot td{color:#999;padding:1px;font-size:0.625em}.fs-article blockquote{position:relative;padding-left:1.75em}.fs-article blockquote:before{position:absolute;top:0;left:0;content:"\201C";color:#B3B3B3;font-size:2.5em}.article-body-image{line-height:0;position:relative}.article-body-image small{position:absolute;bottom:0;line-height:1;padding:.25em;color:#fff;background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.5)}.fs-main-content h1.fs-headline{margin-top:1rem;margin-bottom:1rem;font-size:22px;position:relative;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased}@media (min-width: 480px){.fs-main-content h1.fs-headline{font-size:calc(22px + (40 - 22) * (100vw - 20rem) / (1400 - 320))}}@media (min-width: 1400px){.fs-main-content h1.fs-headline{font-size:40px}}.article-body.fs-responsive-text{font-family:"Georgia","Cambria","Times New Roman","Times",serif;font-size:17.6px;line-height:1.4em}.wp-caption-text{line-height:1.4em}@media all and (min-width: 1401px){.article-body.fs-responsive-text{font-size:21px}.fs-main-content h1.fs-headline{font-size:40.76px}}@media all and (min-width: 1025px) and (max-width: 1400px){.fs-main-content h1.fs-headline{font-size:32.44px;line-height:1.2em}}@media all and (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px){.fs-main-content h1.fs-headline{font-size:27.44px;line-height:1.3em}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.fs-main-content h1.fs-headline{font-size:32.64px;line-height:1.3em}}@media print{.article-video-placeholder,.top-ad-container,.ad-rail-container,sidenav,navbar,footer,medianet,speed-bump,fbs-ad,fbs-video,page[aria-current="false"]{display:none !important}channel-path .logo,channel-path .crumb:before{display:inline-block !important;font-size:15px !important}stream.sidebar-expanded{-webkit-transform:none !important;transform:none !important;margin-left:0 !important}.body-container{width:100%}}.fs-article .embedly-embed{height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;top:0;width:100%}.fs-article .embedly-wrap{height:0;position:relative;width:100%}.fs-article .image-embed div,.fs-article .wp-caption div{line-height:0;overflow:hidden;position:relative}.fs-article .image-embed fbs-accordion,.fs-article .wp-caption fbs-accordion{display:block}.fs-article .image-embed fbs-accordion [aria-expanded="false"],.fs-article .wp-caption fbs-accordion [aria-expanded="false"]{height:1.25em}.fs-article .image-embed fbs-accordion.expandable p,.fs-article .wp-caption fbs-accordion.expandable p{padding-right:1em;position:relative}.fs-article .image-embed fbs-accordion.expandable p[aria-expanded="false"]:after,.fs-article .wp-caption fbs-accordion.expandable p[aria-expanded="false"]:after{content:"[+]";position:absolute;right:0;top:0}.fs-article .image-embed fbs-accordion.expandable p[aria-expanded="true"]:after,.fs-article .wp-caption fbs-accordion.expandable p[aria-expanded="true"]:after{content:" [-]";height:auto}.fs-article .image-embed figcaption,.fs-article .wp-caption figcaption{font-size:.75rem;font-style:italic;line-height:1.4;margin-top:0.5em}.fs-article .image-embed p,.fs-article .wp-caption p{margin:0}.fs-article .image-embed p:after,.fs-article .wp-caption p:after{font-style:normal}.fs-article .image-embed small,.fs-article .wp-caption small{background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.5);bottom:0;color:#fff;line-height:1;padding:0.25em;position:absolute}.fs-article .wp-caption-text{font-size:0.75rem;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;margin-top:0.5em;position:relative}.fs-article .link-embed{background-color:#F2F2F2;color:#000;display:block;padding:20px;text-decoration:none;width:100%}.fs-article .link-embed header{font-size:1.5rem;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:20px}.fs-article .link-embed small{display:block}.fs-article .link-embed .provider-name{font-weight:bold;text-transform:uppercase}.btn{font-size:0.875em;display:inline-flex;align-items:center;justify-content:center;font-weight:bold;border-radius:5px;cursor:pointer;line-height:1;border:none;box-sizing:border-box;transition:all 200ms ease}.btn.btn-rect-lg{padding:1.5em 1em}.btn.btn-rect-sm{padding:0.75em 1em}.btn.btn-square{width:45px;height:45px;padding:1.1em 1em}.btn.btn-circle{width:2rem;height:2rem;border-radius:50%}.btn.btn-black{background-color:#000;color:#fff}.btn.btn-black:hover{background-color:#1a1a1a;color:#fff}.btn.btn-black.secondary{background-color:#fff;border:2px solid #000;color:#000;color:#000}.btn.btn-black.secondary:hover{color:#1a1a1a;border:2px solid #1a1a1a}.btn.btn-gray{background-color:#999;color:#fff}.btn.btn-gray:hover{background-color:#b3b3b3;color:#fff}.btn.btn-gray.secondary{background-color:#fff;border:2px solid #999;color:#999;color:#000}.btn.btn-gray.secondary:hover{color:#b3b3b3;border:2px solid #b3b3b3}.btn.btn-blue{background-color:#069eec;color:#fff}.btn.btn-blue:hover{background-color:#2bb4fa;color:#fff}.btn.btn-blue.secondary{background-color:#fff;border:2px solid #069eec;color:#069eec;color:#000}.btn.btn-blue.secondary:hover{color:#2bb4fa;border:2px solid #2bb4fa}.btn.btn-red{background-color:#f0222e;color:#fff}.btn.btn-red:hover{background-color:#f3525b;color:#fff}.btn.btn-red.secondary{background-color:#fff;border:2px solid #f0222e;color:#f0222e;color:#000}.btn.btn-red.secondary:hover{color:#f3525b;border:2px solid #f3525b}.btn.btn-yellow{background-color:#ffc000;color:#000}.btn.btn-yellow:hover{background-color:#ffcd33;color:#1a1a1a}.btn.btn-yellow.secondary{background-color:#fff;border:2px solid #ffc000;color:#ffc000;color:#000}.btn.btn-yellow.secondary:hover{color:#ffcd33;border:2px solid #ffcd33}.btn:hover{box-shadow:0 0 20px rgba(0,0,0,0.2)}.btn:active{box-shadow:none;top:0.5px;left:0.5px}.btn-facebook{background-color:#3b5998;color:#fff;width:2rem;height:2rem;border-radius:50%}.btn-facebook:hover{background-color:#4c70ba;color:#fff}.btn-facebook-secondary{background-color:#fff;border:2px solid #3b5998;color:#3b5998;width:2rem;height:2rem;border-radius:50%}.btn-facebook-secondary:hover{color:#4c70ba;border:2px solid #4c70ba}.btn-google{background-color:#dd4b39;color:#fff;width:2rem;height:2rem;border-radius:50%}.btn-google:hover{background-color:#e47365;color:#fff}.btn-google-secondary{background-color:#fff;border:2px solid #dd4b39;color:#dd4b39;width:2rem;height:2rem;border-radius:50%}.btn-google-secondary:hover{color:#e47365;border:2px solid #e47365}.btn-linkedin{background-color:#0077b5;color:#fff;width:2rem;height:2rem;border-radius:50%}.btn-linkedin:hover{background-color:#0099e8;color:#fff}.btn-linkedin-secondary{background-color:#fff;border:2px solid #0077b5;color:#0077b5;width:2rem;height:2rem;border-radius:50%}.btn-linkedin-secondary:hover{color:#0099e8;border:2px solid #0099e8}.btn-twitter{background-color:#55acee;color:#fff;width:2rem;height:2rem;border-radius:50%}.btn-twitter:hover{background-color:#83c3f3;color:#fff}.btn-twitter-secondary{background-color:#fff;border:2px solid #55acee;color:#55acee;width:2rem;height:2rem;border-radius:50%}.btn-twitter-secondary:hover{color:#83c3f3;border:2px solid #83c3f3}.btn-instagram{background-color:#333;color:#fff;width:2rem;height:2rem;border-radius:50%}.btn-instagram:hover{background-color:#4d4d4d;color:#fff}.btn-instagram-secondary{background-color:#fff;border:2px solid #333;color:#333;width:2rem;height:2rem;border-radius:50%}.btn-instagram-secondary:hover{color:#4d4d4d;border:2px solid #4d4d4d}.btn-youtube{background-color:#cd201f;color:#fff;width:2rem;height:2rem;border-radius:50%}.btn-youtube:hover{background-color:#e23e3d;color:#fff}.btn-youtube-secondary{background-color:#fff;border:2px solid #cd201f;color:#cd201f;width:2rem;height:2rem;border-radius:50%}.btn-youtube-secondary:hover{color:#e23e3d;border:2px solid #e23e3d}.btn-pinterest{background-color:#bd081c;color:#fff;width:2rem;height:2rem;border-radius:50%}.btn-pinterest:hover{background-color:#ee0a23;color:#fff}.btn-pinterest-secondary{background-color:#fff;border:2px solid #bd081c;color:#bd081c;width:2rem;height:2rem;border-radius:50%}.btn-pinterest-secondary:hover{color:#ee0a23;border:2px solid #ee0a23}.btn-email{background-color:#999;color:#fff;width:2rem;height:2rem;border-radius:50%}.btn-email:hover{background-color:#b3b3b3;color:#fff}.btn-email-secondary{background-color:#fff;border:2px solid #999;color:#999;width:2rem;height:2rem;border-radius:50%}.btn-email-secondary:hover{color:#b3b3b3;border:2px solid #b3b3b3}@font-face{font-family:"forbesicon";src:url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/fbs-typography/0233/forbesicon.eot");src:url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/fbs-typography/0233/forbesicon.eot?#iefix") format("embedded-opentype"),url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/fbs-typography/0233/forbesicon.woff") format("woff"),url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/fbs-typography/0233/forbesicon.ttf") format("truetype"),url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/fbs-typography/0233/forbesicon.svg#forbesicon") format("svg");font-weight:normal;font-style:normal}@media screen and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 0){@font-face{font-family:"forbesicon";src:url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/fbs-typography/0233/forbesicon.svg#forbesicon") format("svg")}}.icon:before{-moz-osx-font-smoothing:grayscale;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;display:inline-block;font-family:"forbesicon";font-smoothing:antialiased;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:1;speak:none;text-decoration:inherit;text-rendering:optimizeLegibility;text-transform:none}.icon-add-person:before{content:"\f168"}.icon-amazon:before{content:"\f162"}.icon-arrow-down:before{content:"\f100"}.icon-arrow-down-bar:before{content:"\f149"}.icon-arrow-up:before{content:"\f101"}.icon-authorvoice:before{content:"\f174"}.icon-badge:before{content:"\f15f"}.icon-baidu:before{content:"\f16a"}.icon-book:before{content:"\f102"}.icon-brandvoice-logo:before{content:"\f150"}.icon-brandvoice-logo-brand:before{content:"\f151"}.icon-brandvoice-logo-voice:before{content:"\f152"}.icon-calendar:before{content:"\f143"}.icon-cart:before{content:"\f15b"}.icon-chat:before{content:"\f15c"}.icon-check:before{content:"\f103"}.icon-chevron-down:before{content:"\f135"}.icon-chevron-left:before{content:"\f136"}.icon-chevron-right:before{content:"\f137"}.icon-chevron-up:before{content:"\f138"}.icon-clipboard:before{content:"\f148"}.icon-clock:before{content:"\f146"}.icon-close:before{content:"\f104"}.icon-cog:before{content:"\f134"}.icon-comment-bubble:before{content:"\f105"}.icon-confirmation:before{content:"\f170"}.icon-copy:before{content:"\f153"}.icon-desktop:before{content:"\f164"}.icon-donald-trump:before{content:"\f163"}.icon-download:before{content:"\f14a"}.icon-edit:before{content:"\f141"}.icon-email:before{content:"\f106"}.icon-enlarge:before{content:"\f147"}.icon-error:before{content:"\f171"}.icon-explore:before{content:"\f161"}.icon-facebook:before{content:"\f139"}.icon-flame:before{content:"\f15e"}.icon-forbes-china-logo:before{content:"\f16b"}.icon-forbes-finds-logo:before{content:"\f175"}.icon-forbes-italy:before{content:"\f173"}.icon-forbes-life:before{content:"\f107"}.icon-forbes-logo:before{content:"\f108"}.icon-forbes-logo-f:before{content:"\f109"}.icon-gallery:before{content:"\f140"}.icon-georgia-daquo:before{content:"\f10a"}.icon-georgia-uaquo:before{content:"\f10b"}.icon-google:before{content:"\f13a"}.icon-group:before{content:"\f10c"}.icon-hamburger:before{content:"\f10d"}.icon-handshake:before{content:"\f14b"}.icon-home:before{content:"\f10e"}.icon-insights:before{content:"\f165"}.icon-instagram:before{content:"\f13b"}.icon-italia:before{content:"\f176"}.icon-link:before{content:"\f10f"}.icon-linkedin:before{content:"\f13c"}.icon-location:before{content:"\f156"}.icon-lock:before{content:"\f154"}.icon-megaphone:before{content:"\f14c"}.icon-microphone:before{content:"\f14d"}.icon-mobile:before{content:"\f166"}.icon-pause:before{content:"\f15d"}.icon-phone-call:before{content:"\f14e"}.icon-photo:before{content:"\f167"}.icon-pinterest:before{content:"\f13d"}.icon-plus:before{content:"\f110"}.icon-preview-eye:before{content:"\f145"}.icon-print:before{content:"\f111"}.icon-qzone:before{content:"\f16c"}.icon-renren:before{content:"\f16d"}.icon-reply:before{content:"\f112"}.icon-reset:before{content:"\f113"}.icon-rss-feed:before{content:"\f114"}.icon-search:before{content:"\f115"}.icon-share:before{content:"\f116"}.icon-snapchat:before{content:"\f169"}.icon-square-bracket-left:before{content:"\f11e"}.icon-square-bracket-right:before{content:"\f11f"}.icon-staff-verified:before{content:"\f158"}.icon-star:before{content:"\f120"}.icon-terms:before{content:"\f14f"}.icon-trash:before{content:"\f142"}.icon-tumblr:before{content:"\f13e"}.icon-twitter:before{content:"\f13f"}.icon-twitter-verified:before{content:"\f157"}.icon-u30-logo:before{content:"\f155"}.icon-under-30-logo:before{content:"\f159"}.icon-user:before{content:"\f125"}.icon-video:before{content:"\f126"}.icon-video-rect:before{content:"\f172"}.icon-wechat:before{content:"\f16e"}.icon-weibo:before{content:"\f16f"}.icon-womenforbes-logo:before{content:"\f160"}.icon-youtube:before{content:"\f15a"}html,body{overflow-y:auto}fbs-ad[position="mobile"]{position:fixed;bottom:0;width:100%;text-align:center}*,*:before,*:after{box-sizing:border-box}button{border:none;outline:none;padding:0;background:none;cursor:pointer}img{max-width:100%}a{text-decoration:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent}.hidden{display:none !important}h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6{margin:0}ul,ol{padding-left:0}fbs-embedly{display:block;height:0;margin:0;overflow:hidden;padding-bottom:67.5%;position:relative;width:100%}fbs-embedly iframe{border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;top:0;width:100%}fbs-video .brightcove_perform{position:relative;width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.25%;overflow:hidden}fbs-video .vjs-big-play-button .vjs-icon-placeholder:before{content:"" !important}fbs-video .playable-rectangle .vjs-big-play-button,fbs-video .playable-rectangle .play-button-icon{position:absolute;top:50% !important;left:50% !important;width:20% !important;height:0 !important;min-width:30px;max-width:150px;-webkit-transform:translate(-50%, -50%);transform:translate(-50%, -50%);background-color:transparent !important;margin-left:0 !important;margin-top:0 !important;font-family:Arial !important;box-shadow:none !important}fbs-video .playable-rectangle .vjs-big-play-button:before,fbs-video .playable-rectangle .vjs-big-play-button:after,fbs-video .playable-rectangle .play-button-icon:before,fbs-video .playable-rectangle .play-button-icon:after{content:" ";display:block;position:absolute;width:100%;padding-top:100%;transition:all 0.2s ease-in-out;margin-top:-50%}fbs-video .playable-rectangle .vjs-big-play-button:before,fbs-video .playable-rectangle .play-button-icon:before{background:url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZpZXdCb3g9Ii0zMjAgMjMyIDE1MCAxNTAiPjxwYXRoIGQ9Ik0tMjQ1IDIzMmMtNDEuNCAwLTc1IDMzLjYtNzUgNzVzMzMuNiA3NSA3NSA3NSA3NS0zMy42IDc1LTc1Uy0yMDMuNiAyMzItMjQ1IDIzMnoiLz48L3N2Zz4=");opacity:0.5}fbs-video .playable-rectangle .vjs-big-play-button:after,fbs-video .playable-rectangle .play-button-icon:after{background:url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZpZXdCb3g9Ii0zMjAgMjMyIDE1MCAxNTAiPjxzdHlsZSB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2NzcyI+ICANCgkuc3Qwe2ZpbGw6I0ZGRkZGRjt9DQo8L3N0eWxlPjxwb2x5Z29uIGNsYXNzPSJzdDAiIHBvaW50cz0iLTI2NC4xIDMzOS41IC0yNjQuMSAyNzQuNSAtMjA3LjkgMzA3ICIvPjwvc3ZnPg==")}fbs-video .playable-rectangle:hover .vjs-big-play-button:before,fbs-video .playable-rectangle:hover .play-button-icon:before{-webkit-transform:scale(0);transform:scale(0)}fbs-video .playable-rectangle:hover .vjs-big-play-button:after,fbs-video .playable-rectangle:hover .play-button-icon:after{-webkit-transform:scale(2);transform:scale(2)}fbs-quotecard{display:inline}fbs-quotecard .card-preview{position:relative;display:inline-block;line-height:1.4em;padding-left:4px}fbs-quotecard .card-preview:hover .preview.negative{color:#fff;background-color:#c20c00;border-color:#a70a00}fbs-quotecard .card-preview:hover .preview.positive{color:#fff;background-color:#017200;border-color:#015900}fbs-quotecard a.preview{font-weight:600;padding:0 3px;color:#555;border-radius:4px}fbs-quotecard a.preview.negative{border:1px #f6dbd9 solid;background-color:#faeceb}fbs-quotecard a.preview.positive{border:1px #d6e8d6 solid;background-color:#eaf3ea}fbs-quotecard .card-hover{position:absolute;top:1.2em;left:3px;width:220px}fbs-quotecard .card-hover.reverse-display{left:auto;right:3px}fbs-quotecard .card-hover.reverse-display .card-contents:after{left:auto;right:20px}fbs-quotecard .card-hover.above{top:auto;bottom:2.5em}fbs-quotecard .card-hover.above .card-contents:after{content:'▼';top:auto;bottom:-0.9em;text-shadow:0 3px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.2)}fbs-quotecard .card-contents{width:100%;position:relative;top:14px;background-color:#fff;padding:20px;z-index:10;border-radius:5px;box-shadow:2px 2px 8px #000}fbs-quotecard .card-contents:after{position:absolute;top:-0.8em;left:20px;content:'▲';display:inline-block;color:#fff;text-shadow:0 -3px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.2);-webkit-transform:scaleX(1.75);transform:scaleX(1.75)}fbs-quotecard a.company-name{color:black}fbs-quotecard a.company-name:hover{color:#003891;cursor:pointer}fbs-quotecard a.company-name h2{margin-top:0;margin-bottom:3px;font-weight:normal}fbs-quotecard a.ticker{font-weight:bold;text-decoration:underline}fbs-quotecard a.ticker h5{margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0}fbs-quotecard h2,fbs-quotecard h5,fbs-quotecard h5.fs-headline{margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0}fbs-quotecard p.cost,fbs-quotecard p.as-of{margin-left:0}fbs-quotecard .cost{font-weight:bold;color:black;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0.5em}fbs-quotecard .cost span.difference{font-size:.6em;margin:4px}fbs-quotecard .cost span.difference.negative{color:#c20c00}fbs-quotecard .cost span.difference.negative .icon:before{content:"\f100";padding-right:2px}fbs-quotecard .cost span.difference.positive{color:#017200}fbs-quotecard .cost span.difference.positive .icon:before{content:"\f101";padding-right:2px}fbs-quotecard .cost span.difference span{margin:2px}fbs-quotecard p.as-of{color:#939393;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:1em;line-height:1.4;font-size:13px}fbs-quotecard ul.stories{border:5px solid #ddd;border-width:5px 0 0}fbs-quotecard ul.stories li.story{list-style-type:none;margin:1em 0 0}fbs-quotecard .hidden{display:none}.slick-slider{position:relative;display:block;box-sizing:border-box;-webkit-touch-callout:none;-webkit-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;user-select:none;touch-action:pan-y;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent}.slick-list{position:relative;overflow:hidden;display:block;margin:0;padding:0}.slick-list:focus{outline:none}.slick-list.dragging{cursor:pointer;cursor:hand}.slick-slider .slick-track,.slick-slider .slick-list{-webkit-transform:translate3d(0, 0, 0);transform:translate3d(0, 0, 0)}.slick-track{position:relative;left:0;top:0;display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto}.slick-track:before,.slick-track:after{content:"";display:table}.slick-track:after{clear:both}.slick-loading .slick-track{visibility:hidden}.slick-slide{float:left;height:100%;min-height:1px;display:none}[dir="rtl"] .slick-slide{float:right}.slick-slide img{display:block}.slick-slide.slick-loading img{display:none}.slick-slide.dragging img{pointer-events:none}.slick-initialized .slick-slide{display:block}.slick-loading .slick-slide{visibility:hidden}.slick-vertical .slick-slide{display:block;height:auto;border:1px solid transparent}.slick-arrow.slick-hidden{display:none}fbs-accordion>*{overflow:hidden}fbs-accordion [aria-expanded="false"]{height:1em}fbs-accordion [aria-expanded="true"]{height:100%}html,body{overflow-y:auto}#server-ad-rail{position:absolute;z-index:1}#server-ad-rail fbs-ad{display:block;margin-top:600px}#server-ad-rail fbs-ad:first-of-type{margin-top:0}.ratio1x1:before{content:'';display:block;padding-bottom:100%}@media all and (max-width: 480px){fbs-ad{text-align:center}}
</style><script type="text/javascript">window.LUX=window.LUX||{};window.LUX.samplerate=1;</script><script src="https://cdn.speedcurve.com/js/lux.js?id=22432108" data-key="https://cdn.speedcurve.com/js/lux.js?id=22432108" onload="this.dataset.loaded = true" async="" defer=""></script><style ng-transition="ng-templates">[_nghost-c2]{position:absolute;min-width:768px;width:100%;padding:0;background-color:#F2F2F2}@media all and (min-width: 1025px) and (max-width: 1229px){[_nghost-c2]{padding:0 2.5%}}</style><style ng-transition="ng-templates">[_nghost-c4]{position:fixed;z-index:2}.navbar-expanded[_nghost-c4]   .brand-logo-container[_ngcontent-c4]{display:flex;align-items:center}.navbar-expanded[_nghost-c4]   .homepage-link[_ngcontent-c4]{font-size:0.875rem;font-weight:normal}.top-nav[_ngcontent-c4]{height:100%;width:100%;display:flex;align-items:center;position:relative}li[_ngcontent-c4]{cursor:pointer}.expand-social[_ngcontent-c4], .trending[_ngcontent-c4]{display:none}.core-unit[_ngcontent-c4]{display:flex;margin-right:.5em;padding-right:.5em;border-right:2px solid gray}.core-unit[_ngcontent-c4]   .core-unit-logo[_ngcontent-c4]{max-width:calc(115.9px * 16/13);min-width:calc(115.9px * 16/13);height:16px !important}core-unit-subscription[_ngcontent-c4]{position:absolute;right:5.8%;top:0}a[_ngcontent-c4]{text-transform:uppercase;font-weight:700}.icon-hamburger[_ngcontent-c4], .icon-search[_ngcontent-c4], .icon-close[_ngcontent-c4]{transition:opacity, -webkit-transform;transition:transform, opacity;transition:transform, opacity, -webkit-transform;will-change:transform, opacity}.icon-hamburger[_ngcontent-c4], .icon-search[_ngcontent-c4], .icon-close[_ngcontent-c4]{transition:opacity 0.5s ease-in-out}.icon-close[_ngcontent-c4]:before{transition:-webkit-transform 0.25s ease-in-out;transition:transform 0.25s ease-in-out;transition:transform 0.25s ease-in-out, -webkit-transform 0.25s ease-in-out}.icon-close[_ngcontent-c4]{opacity:0;z-index:0}.icon-close[_ngcontent-c4]:before{-webkit-transform:rotate(90deg);transform:rotate(90deg)}.icon-hamburger[_ngcontent-c4], .icon-search[_ngcontent-c4]{position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:1}.hamburger[_ngcontent-c4]{margin-right:.5em}.hamburger.open[_ngcontent-c4]   .icon-close[_ngcontent-c4]{opacity:1;z-index:1}.hamburger.open[_ngcontent-c4]   .icon-close[_ngcontent-c4]:before{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg)}.hamburger.open[_ngcontent-c4]   .icon-hamburger[_ngcontent-c4]{z-index:0;opacity:0}.icon-search[_ngcontent-c4]{width:1em}.homepage-link[_ngcontent-c4]{height:1em}.search.open[_ngcontent-c4]   .icon-close[_ngcontent-c4]{opacity:1;z-index:1}.search.open[_ngcontent-c4]   .icon-close[_ngcontent-c4]:before{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg)}.search.open[_ngcontent-c4]   .icon-search[_ngcontent-c4]{opacity:0;z-index:0}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]{display:none}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     .chat{display:none}@media all and (min-width: 1230px){[_nghost-c4]{height:60px;width:250px;background-color:#333;color:#fff}.navbar-expanded[_nghost-c4]{width:100%}.navbar-expanded[_nghost-c4]   .top-nav[_ngcontent-c4]{width:400px}.top-nav[_ngcontent-c4]{padding:0 1em}.search[_ngcontent-c4]{position:absolute;top:50%;-webkit-transform:translateY(-50%);transform:translateY(-50%)}.search[_ngcontent-c4]{right:1em}.share-expanded[_ngcontent-c4]{display:none}}@media all and (min-width: 1280px){[_nghost-c4]{width:400px}.slotted-swimlaned[_nghost-c4]:not(.navbar-expanded){width:290px}}@media all and (min-width: 1440px){.slotted-swimlaned[_nghost-c4]:not(.navbar-expanded){width:400px}}@media (min-width: 769px) and (max-width: 1229px){[_nghost-c4]{width:60px;height:100%;background:#fff;background-image:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKAQMAAAHA+21oAAAABlBMVEX///+tra03rAC8AAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAACdJREFUCB1jaGBAAAeGBgYOBgUwKQCkHRgOACUPMDAzMPAwMBgwAABYMQQgMKldwwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==);background-size:5px 5px;text-align:center;display:flex;flex-direction:column;justify-content:space-between}.navbar-expanded[_nghost-c4]   .top-nav[_ngcontent-c4]{margin-top:0;transition:none}.navbar-expanded[_nghost-c4]   .hamburger[_ngcontent-c4]{margin-right:0}.navbar-expanded[_nghost-c4]   .brand-logo-container[_ngcontent-c4]{display:none}core-unit-subscription[_ngcontent-c4]{display:none}sharing.expanded[_ngcontent-c4]{display:block}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     .expand-social{display:inline-block}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     ul{display:flex;width:650px}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     li{font-size:1.5em}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     li.permalink{background:#B3B3B3;padding-right:20px;margin-left:-3px}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     li.permalink button{float:left}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     button{width:60px;height:60px;border-radius:0}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     button .icon-share{vertical-align:middle;font-size:1.25rem;font-weight:normal}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     button.email{background-color:#000}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     button .icon-link:before{content:"\f10f"}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     span input{width:200px;height:40px;margin-top:10px}.core-unit[_ngcontent-c4]{display:none}.top-nav[_ngcontent-c4], .bottom-sticky[_ngcontent-c4]{display:flex;flex-direction:column;height:50%}.top-nav[_ngcontent-c4]{margin-top:-60px;transition:margin-top 0.25s ease-in-out}.top-nav.nav-items-container[_ngcontent-c4]{margin-top:0px}.top-nav[_ngcontent-c4]   a[_ngcontent-c4]{display:block;width:60px;height:60px;line-height:60px}.top-nav[_ngcontent-c4]   .share-expanded[_ngcontent-c4]{display:none}.bottom-sticky[_ngcontent-c4]{justify-content:space-between}.brand-logo-container[_ngcontent-c4]{order:-1}.homepage-link[_ngcontent-c4]{color:#fff;background:#333;font-size:0.875rem;font-weight:normal}.expand-social[_ngcontent-c4]{display:inline-block}li[_ngcontent-c4]{width:30px;height:30px;line-height:30px;color:#fff;float:left;text-align:center}li.share-text[_ngcontent-c4]{font-weight:bold;line-height:20px;height:20px;width:100%;color:#333;background:#fff;text-transform:uppercase}.icon-facebook[_ngcontent-c4]{background-color:#3b5998}.icon-twitter[_ngcontent-c4]{background-color:#55acee}.icon-email[_ngcontent-c4]{background:#000}.icon-linkedin[_ngcontent-c4]{background-color:#0077b5}.icon-chevron-right[_ngcontent-c4]{margin-left:3px}.hamburger[_ngcontent-c4]{margin-right:0}.hamburger[_ngcontent-c4]:hover   .icon-hamburger[_ngcontent-c4]:before, .search[_ngcontent-c4]:hover   .icon-search[_ngcontent-c4]:before{color:#fff;background-color:#333}.icon-hamburger[_ngcontent-c4]:before{font-size:1.1em;width:60px;height:auto;padding:20px;background-color:#fff}.icon-search[_ngcontent-c4]:before{font-size:1.1em;width:60px;height:auto;padding:20px;background-color:#fff}.icon-close[_ngcontent-c4]:before{width:100%;color:#fff;padding:20px;background-color:#333}.trending[_ngcontent-c4]{display:block;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;line-height:60px;background-color:#4D4D4D;color:#fff;font-size:1.6em}.icon-plus[_ngcontent-c4]:before{transition:-webkit-transform 0.25s ease-in-out;transition:transform 0.25s ease-in-out;transition:transform 0.25s ease-in-out, -webkit-transform 0.25s ease-in-out;-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg)}.icon-plus.rotate[_ngcontent-c4]:before{-webkit-transform:rotate(45deg);transform:rotate(45deg)}.trending[_ngcontent-c4]   small[_ngcontent-c4]{position:absolute;bottom:0;left:0;width:100%;text-transform:uppercase;line-height:normal}.trending[_ngcontent-c4]   small.closed[_ngcontent-c4]{display:none}}@media all and (max-width: 768px){[_nghost-c4]{width:100%;height:60px;background-color:#fff;color:#1A1A1A;border-bottom:solid #E6E6E6 2px}.navbar-expanded[_nghost-c4]{background-color:#333;color:#fff}.top-nav[_ngcontent-c4]{padding:0 1em}sharing.expanded[_ngcontent-c4]{display:inline}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]{position:fixed;top:60px;right:26px;height:120px;padding:.5em;background-color:#666;border-radius:5px;width:275px;color:#fff;font-size:1.5rem;font-weight:normal}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     li{font-size:1.5rem;font-weight:normal}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     button{margin:5px;border-radius:0;width:40px;height:40px;line-height:40px}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     .share-expanded, sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     .google{display:none}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     .email{background-color:#333}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     .chat{display:inline-block;width:40px;height:40px;line-height:40px;text-align:center}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     .permalink{display:block}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     .permalink span{position:absolute;right:0.5em}sharing[_ngcontent-c4]     .permalink input{width:200px;height:40px}.search[_ngcontent-c4]   .icon-close[_ngcontent-c4]{display:none}core-unit-subscription[_ngcontent-c4]{right:15%}.search[_ngcontent-c4]{position:absolute;right:2em;width:1em;height:1em}.search[_ngcontent-c4], .share-expanded[_ngcontent-c4]{top:50%;-webkit-transform:translateY(-50%);transform:translateY(-50%)}.share-expanded[_ngcontent-c4]{position:absolute;right:1em}}</style><style ng-transition="ng-templates">fbs-video.sticky-video{position:fixed;top:60px;left:0;z-index:99}@media all and (min-width: 1230px) and (max-width: 1279px){  .sticky-video{width:250px}}@media all and (min-width: 1280px){  .sticky-video{width:400px}  .sticky-video.sticky-sponsored-video{width:290px}}@media all and (min-width: 1440px){  .sticky-video.sticky-sponsored-video{width:400px}}[_nghost-c7]{display:block;height:100%;position:fixed;width:390px;top:0}@media all and (min-width: 1230px){[_nghost-c7]{top:60px}.video-placeholder[_ngcontent-c7]{background-color:#000}.video-placeholder[_ngcontent-c7]   .overlay-title[_ngcontent-c7]{position:absolute;left:0;width:100%;z-index:1;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;padding:5px 0 5px 1em;color:#fff;background-color:rgba(51,51,51,0.5);display:none}.video-placeholder[_ngcontent-c7]:hover   .overlay-title[_ngcontent-c7]{display:block}}@media all and (min-width: 1230px) and (max-width: 1279px){[_nghost-c7]{width:250px}[_nghost-c7]   .article-sidebar-video[_ngcontent-c7], [_nghost-c7]   .relative-video[_ngcontent-c7]{margin-top:calc(250px * (9/16));height:calc(100% - calc(250px * (9/16)) - 60px)}}@media all and (min-width: 1280px){[_nghost-c7]{width:400px}[_nghost-c7]   .article-sidebar-video[_ngcontent-c7], [_nghost-c7]   .relative-video[_ngcontent-c7]{margin-top:calc(400px * (9/16));height:calc(100% - calc(400px * (9/16)) - 60px)}.slotted-swimlaned[_nghost-c7]{width:290px}.slotted-swimlaned[_nghost-c7]   .article-sidebar-video[_ngcontent-c7], .slotted-swimlaned[_nghost-c7]   .relative-video[_ngcontent-c7]{margin-top:calc(290px * (9/16));height:calc(100% - calc(290px * (9/16)) - 60px)}}@media all and (min-width: 1440px){.slotted-swimlaned[_nghost-c7]{width:400px}.slotted-swimlaned[_nghost-c7]   .article-sidebar-video[_ngcontent-c7], .slotted-swimlaned[_nghost-c7]   .relative-video[_ngcontent-c7]{margin-top:calc(400px * (9/16));height:calc(100% - calc(400px * (9/16)) - 60px)}}@media all and (max-width: 1229px){.navbar-expanded[_nghost-c7]{height:calc(100% - 60px);top:60px}.video-placeholder[_ngcontent-c7]{display:none}}@media all and (min-width: 769px) and (max-width: 1229px){[_nghost-c7]{margin-left:60px}}@media all and (max-width: 768px){[_nghost-c7]{top:60px}}</style><style ng-transition="ng-templates">[_nghost-c13]{margin-left:60px;display:block;position:relative;background-color:#fff;height:100%;z-index:1;transition:-webkit-transform 200ms;transition:transform 200ms;transition:transform 200ms, -webkit-transform 200ms}.sidebar-expanded[_nghost-c13]{will-change:transform;-webkit-transform:translate(390px, 0);transform:translate(390px, 0)}page[_ngcontent-c13]{max-width:1800px;width:100%;margin:0 auto}fbs-ad[_ngcontent-c13]{position:fixed;bottom:0;width:100%;text-align:center}@media all and (min-width: 1230px){[_nghost-c13]{margin-left:250px}.sidebar-expanded[_nghost-c13]{-webkit-transform:none;transform:none;will-change:inherit}}@media all and (min-width: 1230px) and (max-width: 1279px){[_nghost-c13]{margin-left:250px}page[_ngcontent-c13]{padding:0 35px}}@media all and (min-width: 1280px){[_nghost-c13]{margin-left:400px}.slotted-swimlaned[_nghost-c13]{margin-left:290px}page[_ngcontent-c13]{width:95%}}@media all and (min-width: 1440px){.slotted-swimlaned[_nghost-c13]{margin-left:400px}}@media all and (max-width: 768px){[_nghost-c13]{margin:auto}}</style><script src="https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js" data-key="https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js" onload="this.dataset.loaded = true" async="" defer=""></script><script src="https://native.sharethrough.com/assets/sfp.js" data-key="https://native.sharethrough.com/assets/sfp.js" onload="this.dataset.loaded = true" async="" defer=""></script><style ng-transition="ng-templates">[_nghost-c14]{padding:0 5%;display:block}[_nghost-c14]     .share-expanded{display:none}.fs-article[_ngcontent-c14]{max-width:initial}featured-image[_ngcontent-c14]{margin-bottom:2em}sharing[_ngcontent-c14]{font-size:1.25em}sharing[_ngcontent-c14]     li{margin-right:8px}sharing[_ngcontent-c14]     .email{background:#000}.article-wrapper[_ngcontent-c14]{position:relative}.article-wrapper[_ngcontent-c14]:before, .article-wrapper[_ngcontent-c14]:after{content:" ";display:table}.article-wrapper[_ngcontent-c14]:after{clear:both}.body-container[_ngcontent-c14]{display:block;padding-right:5%;margin-right:300px}.body-container.no-rail[_ngcontent-c14]{margin-right:0}.body-container.no-rail[_ngcontent-c14]   .fs-article[_ngcontent-c14]{max-width:100%}article-body-container[_ngcontent-c14]{display:block}article-body-container[_ngcontent-c14], contrib-block[_ngcontent-c14], guest-contrib[_ngcontent-c14], group-blog[_ngcontent-c14]{margin-top:1em}footer[_ngcontent-c14]{display:inline-block;width:100%}footer[_ngcontent-c14]   pagination-nav[_ngcontent-c14]{float:right}footer[_ngcontent-c14]   sharing[_ngcontent-c14]{clear:both;float:right;position:relative;margin:5px 0}footer[_ngcontent-c14]   sharing[_ngcontent-c14]:before{content:'Share: ';position:absolute;left:-55px;line-height:30px;color:#333;font-size:0.875rem;font-weight:normal;font-weight:bold;font-family:"Avenir","Noto Sans","Droid Sans","Helvetica Neue",Corbel,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif}.ad-rail-container[_ngcontent-c14]{float:right;height:auto}fbs-ad-rail[_ngcontent-c14]{display:block;width:300px;height:100%}fbs-ad-rail[_ngcontent-c14]     fbs-ad{margin-top:600px;display:block}fbs-ad-rail[_ngcontent-c14]     fbs-ad[position="spon-logo"], fbs-ad-rail[_ngcontent-c14]     fbs-ad[position="rec"]{margin-top:0}fbs-ad-rail[_ngcontent-c14]     [position="spon-logo"] div:first-child{margin-bottom:20px}@media all and (min-width: 1025px) and (max-width: 1229px){[_nghost-c14]{padding:0 7.5%}}@media all and (max-width: 1229px){sharing[_ngcontent-c14]{display:none}}@media all and (max-width: 768px){[_nghost-c14]{padding-top:60px}}</style><style ng-transition="ng-templates">[_nghost-c15]{width:100%;background:#fff;font-weight:normal;display:inline-block}.core-unit[_nghost-c15]{margin-top:60px}[position="top"][_ngcontent-c15]{display:block;width:100%;min-height:90px;padding:12px 0;text-align:center;z-index:1}[position="top"][_ngcontent-c15]    >div{margin:0 -8.8%;overflow-x:auto;overflow-y:hidden}.top-ad-container[_ngcontent-c15]{min-height:116px;border-bottom:2px solid #E6E6E6;margin:auto;float:none}.sticky[_ngcontent-c15]{position:fixed;top:0;border:none;width:100%;background:#fff;z-index:9999;transition:top 500ms}.sticky.core-unit[_ngcontent-c15]{top:60px}group-blog-blurb[_ngcontent-c15]{margin-top:1em}.women-at-forbes[_ngcontent-c15]{width:135px;height:20px;float:left;margin:10px 20px 0 0}.women-at-forbes[_ngcontent-c15]   img[_ngcontent-c15]{vertical-align:top}.article-meta[_ngcontent-c15]{min-height:1em;line-height:20px;color:gray;display:block;margin-top:1em;font-weight:bold}.article-meta[_ngcontent-c15]   channel-path[_ngcontent-c15]{display:none}.badge[_ngcontent-c15]{display:inline-block;position:relative;margin-left:1em}.forbes-on-trump[_ngcontent-c15]{color:#fff;background-color:#333;padding:2px 7px 0 29px;font-weight:bold}.forbes-on-trump[_ngcontent-c15]   .icon-donald-trump[_ngcontent-c15]{position:absolute;top:1px;left:4px}.forbes-on-trump[_ngcontent-c15]:before{content:'Forbes on trump';text-transform:uppercase}.forbes-100[_ngcontent-c15]{vertical-align:top;background-color:#333}.forbes-100[_ngcontent-c15]   img[_ngcontent-c15]{padding:2px}.editors-pick[_ngcontent-c15]:before{content:'Editor\'s pick';color:#1A1A1A;margin-left:23px;font-weight:bold;text-transform:uppercase}.icon-badge[_ngcontent-c15]{position:absolute;left:0;top:0;color:#ffc000}.icon-star[_ngcontent-c15]{position:absolute;top:-1px;left:3.5px;color:#1A1A1A}div[_ngcontent-c15]{float:right;margin-left:6px}div[_ngcontent-c15]   a[_ngcontent-c15]{padding:3px 5px;background-color:#003891;color:#fff;text-decoration:none;text-transform:uppercase;border-radius:8px;transition:all 0.15s ease-in-out}div[_ngcontent-c15]   a[_ngcontent-c15]:hover{background-color:#000}.circ-link[_ngcontent-c15]{font-weight:bold;color:#c41a23;float:right}featured-image[_ngcontent-c15]{margin:1rem 0}.badge-wrapper[_ngcontent-c15]{display:none}.badge-wrapper[_ngcontent-c15]   .badge[_ngcontent-c15]{display:inline-block;position:relative;margin-left:1em}.badge-wrapper[_ngcontent-c15]   [_ngcontent-c15]:first-child{margin-left:0}.badge-wrapper[_ngcontent-c15]   .women-at-forbes[_ngcontent-c15]{width:162px;height:24px;border:1px solid #000;margin:0}.badge-wrapper[_ngcontent-c15]   .forbes-on-trump[_ngcontent-c15], .badge-wrapper[_ngcontent-c15]   .forbes-100[_ngcontent-c15]{vertical-align:top}.badge-wrapper[_ngcontent-c15]   .forbes-on-trump[_ngcontent-c15]   img[_ngcontent-c15], .badge-wrapper[_ngcontent-c15]   .forbes-100[_ngcontent-c15]   img[_ngcontent-c15]{padding:2px}.badge-wrapper[_ngcontent-c15]   .forbes-on-trump[_ngcontent-c15]{color:#fff;background-color:#333;padding:2px 7px 0 29px;font-weight:bold;line-height:20px}.badge-wrapper[_ngcontent-c15]   .forbes-on-trump[_ngcontent-c15]   .icon-donald-trump[_ngcontent-c15]{position:absolute;top:1px;left:4px}.badge-wrapper[_ngcontent-c15]   .forbes-on-trump[_ngcontent-c15]:before{content:'Forbes on trump';text-transform:uppercase}.badge-wrapper[_ngcontent-c15]   .forbes-100[_ngcontent-c15]{vertical-align:top;background-color:#333}.badge-wrapper[_ngcontent-c15]   .forbes-100[_ngcontent-c15]   img[_ngcontent-c15]{padding:2px}@media all and (max-width: 768px){.core-unit[_nghost-c15]{margin-top:0}channel-path[_ngcontent-c15], .women-at-forbes[_ngcontent-c15], .forbes-on-trump[_ngcontent-c15], .forbes-100[_ngcontent-c15], .circ-link[_ngcontent-c15]{display:none}.article-meta[_ngcontent-c15]   channel-path[_ngcontent-c15]{display:block}.badge-wrapper[_ngcontent-c15]{display:inline-block}}@media all and (min-width: 1230px) and (max-width: 1329px){[position="top"][_ngcontent-c15]    >div{margin:0 -3.6%}}</style><style ng-transition="ng-templates">[_nghost-c26]{display:inline-block;font-weight:bold;text-transform:uppercase}.view-count[_ngcontent-c26]{margin-left:2em}</style><style ng-transition="ng-templates">[_nghost-c10]{text-transform:uppercase;display:block;font-family:forbesicon}.reversible[_nghost-c10]   .icon-facebook[_ngcontent-c10]{background:#3b5998;color:#fff}.reversible[_nghost-c10]   .icon-facebook[_ngcontent-c10]:hover{background:#fff;color:#3b5998}.reversible[_nghost-c10]   .icon-twitter[_ngcontent-c10]{background:#55acee;color:#fff}.reversible[_nghost-c10]   .icon-twitter[_ngcontent-c10]:hover{background:#fff;color:#55acee}.reversible[_nghost-c10]   .icon-linkedin[_ngcontent-c10]{background:#0077b5;color:#fff}.reversible[_nghost-c10]   .icon-linkedin[_ngcontent-c10]:hover{background:#fff;color:#0077b5}.reversible[_nghost-c10]   .icon-google[_ngcontent-c10]{background:#dd4b39;color:#fff}.reversible[_nghost-c10]   .icon-google[_ngcontent-c10]:hover{background:#fff;color:#dd4b39}.reversible[_nghost-c10]   .icon-pinterest[_ngcontent-c10]{background:#bd081c;color:#fff}.reversible[_nghost-c10]   .icon-pinterest[_ngcontent-c10]:hover{background:#fff;color:#bd081c}.reversible[_nghost-c10]   .icon-email[_ngcontent-c10]{background:#B3B3B3;color:#fff}.reversible[_nghost-c10]   .icon-email[_ngcontent-c10]:hover{background:#fff;color:#B3B3B3}li[_ngcontent-c10]{display:inline-block;line-height:1.5em}li.share-expanded[_ngcontent-c10]{background-color:#fff}li.share-expanded[_ngcontent-c10]   button[_ngcontent-c10]{color:#333}li.share-expanded[_ngcontent-c10]   button[_ngcontent-c10]:after{content:'share';text-transform:uppercase;display:block;font-weight:700;font-size:10px;line-height:10px;position:relative;top:-15px}button[_ngcontent-c10]{color:#fff;width:1.5em;height:1.5em;border-radius:50%}input[_ngcontent-c10]{width:auto;height:1.5em;border:0;padding:0 10px;font:400 1rem "Georgia","Cambria","Times New Roman","Times",serif;border-radius:5px;box-shadow:inset 2px 3px 3px rgba(0,0,0,0.1)}.facebook[_ngcontent-c10]{background-color:#3b5998}.twitter[_ngcontent-c10]{background-color:#55acee}.linkedin[_ngcontent-c10]{background-color:#0077b5}.google[_ngcontent-c10]{background-color:#dd4b39}.pinterest[_ngcontent-c10]{background-color:#bd081c}.email[_ngcontent-c10]{background-color:#B3B3B3}.chat[_ngcontent-c10]{background-color:#009623;width:1.5em}.chat[_ngcontent-c10]   i[_ngcontent-c10]:before{content:"\f15c"}</style><style ng-transition="ng-templates">[_nghost-c22]{display:block;margin:20px 0;clear:both}ul[_ngcontent-c22]{display:flex;justify-content:space-between}li[_ngcontent-c22]{display:inline-block;font-weight:bold;color:#333;text-align:left;padding:0 3px}li[_ngcontent-c22]   a[_ngcontent-c22]{text-decoration:underline}li[_ngcontent-c22]   a[_ngcontent-c22]:hover, li[_ngcontent-c22]   a[_ngcontent-c22]:active{color:#069eec}.print[_ngcontent-c22]{padding-left:0}@media all and (max-width: 768px){.print[_ngcontent-c22]{display:none}}@media all and (max-width: 480px){i[_ngcontent-c22]{padding-right:0}li[_ngcontent-c22]{display:block;float:left}}</style><style ng-transition="ng-templates">[_nghost-c17]{display:inline-block;width:100%}contrib-byline.no-disclaimer[_ngcontent-c17]{padding-top:12px}.contrib-container[_ngcontent-c17]{display:flex}.fs-author-avatar[_ngcontent-c17]{width:4em;height:4em;max-width:80px}.fs-author-avatar[_ngcontent-c17]   img[_ngcontent-c17]{min-width:60px;width:100%}.most-popular-icon[_ngcontent-c17]   small[_ngcontent-c17]{display:none;position:absolute;top:0;left:25px;padding:5px;background-color:#ffc000;font-weight:bold;border-radius:4px;text-transform:uppercase;white-space:nowrap}.contrib-tagline[_ngcontent-c17]{color:#999;font-style:italic;line-height:1.25;margin-top:0.5em}.full-bio[_ngcontent-c17]{display:inline-block;color:#003891;font-weight:bold;text-transform:uppercase}.full-bio[_ngcontent-c17]:before{content:'Full Bio'}.bio-expanded[_ngcontent-c17]{background-color:#F2F2F2;position:relative;padding:.8em;margin:-.8em}.bio-expanded[_ngcontent-c17]   .full-bio[_ngcontent-c17]{position:absolute;right:8px;top:5px;color:#000}.bio-expanded[_ngcontent-c17]   .full-bio[_ngcontent-c17]:before{content:''}.bio-expanded[_ngcontent-c17]   .icon-chevron-down[_ngcontent-c17]:before{content:'\f104'}.legal-disclaimer[_ngcontent-c17]{display:block;margin-top:1em}  follow-link{display:block;margin:.2em 0}.social-links[_ngcontent-c17]{display:flex}li[_ngcontent-c17]{padding:0 10px}li[_ngcontent-c17]   .icon[_ngcontent-c17]{color:#666}li[_ngcontent-c17]:first-of-type{padding-left:0}.icon[_ngcontent-c17]:hover.icon-facebook{color:#3b5998}.icon[_ngcontent-c17]:hover.icon-twitter{color:#55acee}.icon[_ngcontent-c17]:hover.icon-linkedin{color:#0077b5}.icon[_ngcontent-c17]:hover.icon-instagram{color:#333}.icon[_ngcontent-c17]:hover.icon-rss-feed{color:#f38521}.icon[_ngcontent-c17]:hover.icon-book{color:#f90}.icon[_ngcontent-c17]:hover.icon-google{color:#dd4b39}.icon[_ngcontent-c17]:hover.icon-youtube{color:#cd201f}@media (max-width: 1024px){.fs-author-avatar[_ngcontent-c17]{max-width:40px;max-height:45px}.fs-author-avatar[_ngcontent-c17]   img[_ngcontent-c17]{min-width:40px}}@media (min-width: 768px){.most-popular-icon[_ngcontent-c17]:hover   small[_ngcontent-c17]{display:inline}}</style><style ng-transition="ng-templates">[_nghost-c27]{display:block}.brand[_ngcontent-c27]{color:#c41a23;font-style:italic;vertical-align:baseline}.comma[_ngcontent-c27]{margin-left:-.25rem}.contrib-byline-type[_ngcontent-c27]{color:#999;text-transform:uppercase}.icon-staff-verified[_ngcontent-c27]{color:#003891}.icon-u30-logo[_ngcontent-c27]{color:#ffc000}.icon-womenforbes-logo[_ngcontent-c27]{color:#000;vertical-align:middle}</style><style ng-transition="ng-templates">[_nghost-c18]{display:block;padding:12px 0;margin-top:1rem;border-top:3px solid #E6E6E6;border-bottom:3px solid #E6E6E6;overflow:hidden}img[_ngcontent-c18]{float:right;height:100px;width:100px;border-radius:50px}.info-block[_ngcontent-c18]{max-width:70%;float:left;margin-bottom:12px;font-weight:bold}.info-block[_ngcontent-c18]   .intro[_ngcontent-c18]{color:#666;text-transform:uppercase}.info-block[_ngcontent-c18]   .name[_ngcontent-c18]{margin:3px 0}.bio[_ngcontent-c18]{clear:left;word-wrap:break-word}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){img[_ngcontent-c18]{height:60px;width:60px;border-radius:30px;margin-right:10px}.info-block[_ngcontent-c18]{padding-top:10px}}@media all and (max-width: 480px){[_nghost-c18]{padding:12px}}</style><style ng-transition="ng-templates">.article-gallery-embedded{border-color:#E6E6E6;border-style:solid;border-width:3px 0px;width:100%;padding:1.5em 5%;margin:1em 0;font-size:1.5rem;font-weight:normal;overflow:hidden}  .article-gallery-embedded .article-image-box{width:47%;float:left;margin-right:3%}  .article-gallery-embedded .article-image-box img{display:block}  .article-gallery-embedded .article-text-box{width:50%;float:left}  .article-gallery-embedded .article-text-box header{font:700 0.875em "Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#003891;margin-bottom:.5em}  .article-gallery-embedded .article-text-box header .icon{color:#999;margin-right:.5em}  .article-gallery-embedded .article-text-box h4{font:normal 1.5em "Georgia","Cambria","Times New Roman","Times",serif;color:#000}  .article-gallery-embedded .article-text-box .article-launch-gallery{display:inline-block;font:700 0.875em "Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;margin-top:0.75em;margin-right:.5em}  .article-gallery-embedded .article-text-box .article-launch-gallery .article-launch-text{color:#003891}  .article-gallery-embedded .article-text-box .article-launch-gallery .article-slide-count{font-size:0.875em;margin:0;color:#999}  .article-gallery-embedded .article-text-box .article-launch-button{background-color:#069eec;color:#fff;display:inline-block;vertical-align:bottom;width:2em;height:2em;text-align:center;height:40px;width:40px;border-radius:20px;transition:-webkit-transform 0.15s ease-in-out;transition:transform 0.15s ease-in-out;transition:transform 0.15s ease-in-out, -webkit-transform 0.15s ease-in-out;-webkit-transform:translate(0, 0);transform:translate(0, 0)}  .article-gallery-embedded .article-text-box .article-launch-button .icon-chevron-right,   .article-gallery-embedded .article-text-box .article-launch-button .icon-chevron-right:before{vertical-align:middle}@media all and (max-width: 1229px){  .article-gallery-embedded{font-size:1.5rem;font-weight:normal}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){  .article-gallery-embedded{font-size:1.25rem;font-weight:normal}  .article-gallery-embedded .article-image-box{float:right;margin-right:auto}  .article-gallery-embedded .article-text-box{float:left;margin-right:3%}  .article-gallery-embedded .article-text-box .article-launch-button{font-size:0.75em}}[_nghost-c20]{display:inline-block}[_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv{position:relative;max-width:800px;font-size:initial;margin:2em auto 2.5em;text-align:center;transition:max-height 0.3s ease-in-out}[_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv h3{font-weight:normal;line-height:1.2em;font-family:"Georgia","Cambria","Times New Roman","Times",serif}[_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv a{color:#000;text-decoration:none}[_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv .inline-reveal{position:relative;z-index:0;overflow-y:hidden;height:100%;transition:all 0.3s linear}[_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv.collapsed .inline-reveal{height:0}[_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv:before, [_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv:after{height:0;content:"";display:block;position:absolute;left:10%;right:10%;z-index:0}[_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv:before{border-top:1px solid #c41a23;top:0}[_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv:after{border-top:2px solid #c41a23;bottom:0}[_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv .inline-reveal .reveal-this{margin:1.5em 5% 2em}[_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv .inline-reveal .reveal-this h3{margin-top:1em}[_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv .inline-reveal .reveal-this h3 a{font-size:1.25em}[_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv .brandvoice-entity a{display:inline-block}[_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv .brandvoice-entity a .avatar{width:2em}[_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv .brandvoice-entity a .brandvoice{white-space:nowrap;font:bold 1em "Avenir","Noto Sans","Droid Sans","Helvetica Neue",Corbel,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif}[_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv .inline-peak{position:absolute;width:100%;bottom:0;z-index:1}[_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv .slug{display:inline-block;background:#fff;font-family:"Georgia","Cambria","Times New Roman","Times",serif;font-weight:bold;line-height:1em;position:relative;bottom:-.5em;padding-right:30px;padding-left:10px}[_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv .brandvoice{color:#c41a23;font-style:italic}[_nghost-c20]     .article-promo-bv .brandvoice .brand{color:#000;font-style:normal}@media all and (max-width: 768px){.article-promo-bv[_ngcontent-c20]   .brandvoice-entity[_ngcontent-c20]   .avatar[_ngcontent-c20]{vertical-align:middle;margin-right:.5em}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.article-promo-bv[_ngcontent-c20]   .inline-peak[_ngcontent-c20]   .slug[_ngcontent-c20]   .help[_ngcontent-c20]{top:1px}}@media all and (min-width: 769px){.article-promo-bv[_ngcontent-c20]   .brandvoice-entity[_ngcontent-c20]   .avatar[_ngcontent-c20]{width:3em;margin-bottom:.5em}.article-promo-bv[_ngcontent-c20]   .brandvoice-entity[_ngcontent-c20]   .brandvoice[_ngcontent-c20]{display:block}}@media all and (min-width: 1025px){.article-promo-bv[_ngcontent-c20]{font-size:1.25rem;font-weight:normal}}@media all and (min-width: 1230px){.article-promo-bv[_ngcontent-c20]{font-size:1.5rem;font-weight:normal}}fbs-ad[_ngcontent-c20]{display:block;text-align:center;margin-bottom:30px;overflow-x:auto}p[_ngcontent-c20]{margin-top:0}div[_ngcontent-c20]     {display:block}div[_ngcontent-c20]     img{width:100%}div[_ngcontent-c20]     .progressive-placeholder:before{content:'';display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%}div[_ngcontent-c20]     .fbs-brightcove{margin:1em 0}div[_ngcontent-c20]     .alignleft{float:left;margin:0.5% 3.5% 1.75% 0}div[_ngcontent-c20]     .alignright{float:right;margin:0.5% 0 1.75% 3.5%}div[_ngcontent-c20]     .alignleft, div[_ngcontent-c20]     .alignright{width:40%;line-height:0}div[_ngcontent-c20]     .alignleft .caption-container, div[_ngcontent-c20]     .alignright .caption-container{padding-top:0.5em}div[_ngcontent-c20]     .alignleft .wp-caption-text, div[_ngcontent-c20]     .alignright .wp-caption-text{margin:0;line-height:1.4em}div[_ngcontent-c20]     .tweet_quote{padding:0 3px 0 0}div[_ngcontent-c20]     .tweet_quote:hover a{color:#fff;background-color:#55acee;text-decoration:none}div[_ngcontent-c20]     .tweet_quote:hover span:before{margin-left:-1.3em}div[_ngcontent-c20]     .tweet_quote a{transition:background-color 0.2s ease-in-out;color:#000}div[_ngcontent-c20]     .tweet_quote span{position:relative;color:#55acee;width:1.5em;height:1em;padding:0 .25em;overflow:hidden;display:inline-block}div[_ngcontent-c20]     .tweet_quote span:before, div[_ngcontent-c20]     .tweet_quote span:after{content:"\f13f";font-family:forbesicon;font-size:1.25em;display:block;height:1em;float:left}div[_ngcontent-c20]     .tweet_quote span:before{margin-left:0;transition:margin-left 0.2s ease-in-out}div[_ngcontent-c20]     .tweet_quote span:after{color:#fff}div[_ngcontent-c20]     ul li, div[_ngcontent-c20]     ol li{margin:1em 0;margin-left:3em}div[_ngcontent-c20]     ol li{list-style:decimal}div[_ngcontent-c20]     ul li{list-style:disc}div[_ngcontent-c20]     div[style*="clear"]{clear:left !important}div[_ngcontent-c20]     .slideimgbox>img{margin:auto}  .sticky-video-placeholder{background:#000 url("//i.forbesimg.com/media/assets/logos/forbes-logo-f.png") no-repeat center center;position:relative;width:100%;height:0;padding:56.25% 0 0;overflow:hidden}loading[_ngcontent-c20]{background:lightgrey;color:dimgrey;text-align:center;height:400px;width:calc(100% - 200px)}@media (1230px) and (1400px){[_nghost-c20]     .article-body .alignleft, [_nghost-c20]     .article-body .alignright{padding:3.25% 0}}@media (min-width: 769px){[_nghost-c20]     .article-body .alignleft{margin:1.75% 3.5% 1.75% -3.5%}[_nghost-c20]     .article-body .alignright{margin:1.75% -3.5% 1.75% 3.5%}}@media all and (max-width: 768px){[_nghost-c20]{padding-right:0px;margin-right:0px}[_nghost-c20]     .article-body .alignleft, [_nghost-c20]     .article-body .alignright{float:none;width:auto;margin-left:3%}}</style><style ng-transition="ng-templates">[_nghost-c21]{display:inline-block;margin:0;color:#999}strong[_ngcontent-c21]{color:#000;text-transform:uppercase}li[_ngcontent-c21]{float:left;margin-right:6px}.prev[_ngcontent-c21], .next[_ngcontent-c21]{display:inline-block;text-transform:none;background:#fff;border:2px solid #000;border-radius:5px;padding:.5em 1em;font-weight:bold;color:#000}.prev[_ngcontent-c21]:hover, .next[_ngcontent-c21]:hover{background:#069eec;border-color:#069eec;color:#fff}.prev[_ngcontent-c21]   .icon[_ngcontent-c21], .next[_ngcontent-c21]   .icon[_ngcontent-c21]{position:relative;left:0;transition:left .3s ease-in-out }.prev[_ngcontent-c21]{margin-right:.5em}.prev[_ngcontent-c21]:hover   .icon[_ngcontent-c21]{left:-5px}.next[_ngcontent-c21]{margin-left:.5em}.next[_ngcontent-c21]:hover   .icon[_ngcontent-c21]{left:5px}</style><style ng-transition="ng-templates">[_nghost-c24]{display:block;padding-top:1.5rem;border-bottom:2px solid #E6E6E6;padding-bottom:12px;transition:font-size 0.3s ease-out;font-family:"Georgia","Cambria","Times New Roman","Times",serif}.logo[_ngcontent-c24]{display:inline-block}.crumb[_ngcontent-c24], .hashtag[_ngcontent-c24]{vertical-align:baseline}.crumb[_ngcontent-c24]:before, .hashtag[_ngcontent-c24]:before{content:"/";display:inline-block;margin:0 .5em 0 .3em;position:relative;top:-0.15em;color:#ccc;font-size:0.75em}.crumb[_ngcontent-c24]{color:#999}.hashtag[_ngcontent-c24]{text-transform:capitalize;color:#003891}@media (min-width: 1230px){.logo[_ngcontent-c24], .crumb[_ngcontent-c24]:before{display:none}}@media all and (max-width: 768px){[_nghost-c24]{border-bottom:none;padding:0;font-weight:400}.crumb[_ngcontent-c24], .hashtag[_ngcontent-c24]{font-size:0.875rem;font-weight:normal}.crumb[_ngcontent-c24]{color:gray;text-transform:capitalize}.hashtag[_ngcontent-c24]:before{font-size:0.875rem;font-weight:normal}.logo[_ngcontent-c24], .crumb[_ngcontent-c24]:before{display:none}}</style><meta name="apple-itunes-app" content="app-id=588647136"><meta property="fb:app_id" content="123694841080850"><meta property="og:site_name" content="Forbes"><meta name="twitter:site" content="@forbes"><meta name="description" content="When the magnitude of uninsured flood loss from Harvey becomes tragically clear, many will demand more comprehensive federally subsidized flood insurance. This is exactly what we do NOT need: It would make large flood losses more likely in the future." itemprop="description"><meta name="keywords" content="" itemprop="keywords"><meta name="author" content="Omri Ben-Shahar" itemprop="author"><meta property="og:title" content="Lessons from Hurricane Harvey: Federal Flood Insurance is the Problem, Not the Solution"><meta property="og:image" content="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/600x315/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F41514822%2F960x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale"><meta property="og:updated_time" content="2017-08-30T12:34:19-04:00"><meta property="og:url" content="https://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/2017/08/30/lessons-from-hurricane-harvey-federal-flood-insurance-is-the-problem-not-the-solution/"><meta property="og:description" content="When the magnitude of uninsured flood loss from Harvey becomes tragically clear, many will demand more comprehensive federally subsidized flood insurance. This is exactly what we do NOT need: It would make large flood losses more likely in the future."><meta property="og:type" content="article"><meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"><meta name="twitter:title" content="Lessons from Hurricane Harvey: Federal Flood Insurance is the Problem, Not the Solution"><meta name="twitter:description" content="When the magnitude of uninsured flood loss from Harvey becomes tragically clear, many will demand more comprehensive federally subsidized flood insurance. This is exactly what we do NOT need: It would make large flood losses more likely in the future."><meta name="twitter:image" content="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/600x300/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F41514822%2F960x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale" itemprop="image"><meta name="twitter:creator" content="@omribenshahar"><meta name="news_keywords" content="" itemprop="keywords"><meta property="article:publisher" content="https://www.facebook.com/forbes"><meta property="article:author" content="Omri Ben-Shahar"><meta property="article:section" content="Opinion" itemprop="articleSection"><meta property="article:section_url" content="https://www.forbes.com/opinion/"><meta property="article:id" content="blogAndPostId/blog/post/4346-375"><meta property="article:published" content="2017-08-30" itemprop="datePublished"><meta property="article:modified" content="2017-08-30" itemprop="dateModified"><link rel="amphtml" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/2017/08/30/lessons-from-hurricane-harvey-federal-flood-insurance-is-the-problem-not-the-solution/amp/"><script id="article-metadata" type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"http://schema.org","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Forbes","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://i.forbesimg.com/media/amp/images/forbes-logo-dark.png","width":60,"height":60}},"@type":"NewsArticle","author":"Omri Ben-Shahar","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/1280x868/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F41514822%2F960x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale","width":1280,"height":868},"headline":"Lessons from Hurricane Harvey: Federal Flood Insurance is the Problem, Not the Solution","datePublished":"Wed Aug 30 2017 16:34:00 GMT+0000","dateModified":"Wed Aug 30 2017 16:34:19 GMT+0000","name":"Lessons from Hurricane Harvey: Federal Flood Insurance is the Problem, Not the Solution","Keywords":"","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/2017/08/30/lessons-from-hurricane-harvey-federal-flood-insurance-is-the-problem-not-the-solution/"}</script><script id="article-speakable" type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"http://schema.org","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Forbes","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://i.forbesimg.com/media/amp/images/forbes-logo-dark.png","width":60,"height":60}},"@type":"WebPage","name":"Lessons from Hurricane Harvey: Federal Flood Insurance is the Problem, Not the Solution","speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".speakable-headline",".speakable-author",".speakable-paragraph"]},"url":"https://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/2017/08/30/lessons-from-hurricane-harvey-federal-flood-insurance-is-the-problem-not-the-solution/"}</script></head><body><app-root ng-version="5.2.0">
		<!---->
		<router-outlet></router-outlet><app _nghost-c2=""><!---->
<navbar _ngcontent-c2="" _nghost-c4="" class="undefined-expanded"><div _ngcontent-c4="" class="top-nav">
	<a _ngcontent-c4="" class="hamburger fs-text-l">
		<i _ngcontent-c4="" class="icon icon-hamburger" data-ga-track="Hamburger Icon"></i>
		<i _ngcontent-c4="" class="icon icon-close" data-ga-track="Hamburger X Close"></i>
	</a>

	<div _ngcontent-c4="" class="brand-logo-container">
		<!---->

		<a _ngcontent-c4="" class="homepage-link fs-text-l" href="//www.forbes.com/">
			<i _ngcontent-c4="" class="icon icon-forbes-logo" data-ga-track="Forbes Logo Link"></i>
		</a>
	</div>

	<a _ngcontent-c4="" class="share-expanded fs-text-l fs-responsive-text"><i _ngcontent-c4="" class="icon icon-share"></i></a>
	<a _ngcontent-c4="" class="search fs-text-l fs-responsive-text">
		<i _ngcontent-c4="" class="icon icon-search" data-ga-track="Search Icon"></i>
		<i _ngcontent-c4="" class="icon icon-close"></i>
	</a>
</div>

<!---->

<div _ngcontent-c4="" class="bottom-sticky">
	<!----><ul _ngcontent-c4="" class="expand-social fs-text-m fs-responsive-text">
		<li _ngcontent-c4="" class="icon icon-facebook"></li>
		<li _ngcontent-c4="" class="icon icon-twitter"></li>
		<li _ngcontent-c4="" class="icon icon-email"></li>
		<li _ngcontent-c4="" class="icon icon-linkedin"></li>
		<li _ngcontent-c4="" class="share-text fs-text-xxs">
			<a _ngcontent-c4="">share</a>
			<i _ngcontent-c4="" class="icon icon-chevron-right"></i>
		</li>
	</ul>

	<!---->

	<a _ngcontent-c4="" class="trending">
		<i _ngcontent-c4="" class="icon icon-plus" data-ga-track="Popular Box"></i>
		<small _ngcontent-c4="">Trending</small>
	</a>
</div>
</navbar>
<!---->

<router-outlet _ngcontent-c2=""></router-outlet><stream _nghost-c13=""><!----><page _ngcontent-c13="" class="fs-main-content" _nghost-c14="" id="article-container-0" aria-current="true"><article-header _ngcontent-c14="" _nghost-c15=""><!----><channel-path _ngcontent-c15="" class="fs-text-l fs-responsive-text" _nghost-c24=""><a _ngcontent-c24="" class="logo" href="//www.forbes.com/">
	<i _ngcontent-c24="" class="icon icon-forbes-logo" data-ga-track="Forbes Logo Link"></i>
</a>
<!----><a _ngcontent-c24="" class="crumb" data-ga-track="Channel Heading Link Top" href="/opinion">Opinion</a>
<!----><a _ngcontent-c24="" class="hashtag" data-ga-track="Hashtag Click" href="/search/?substream=hashtags&amp;q=Regulation">#Regulation</a>
</channel-path>

<!----><div _ngcontent-c15="" class="top-ad-container" style="">
	<!---->
</div>

<!---->

<!---->

<small _ngcontent-c15="" class="article-meta">
	<!----><channel-path _ngcontent-c15="" _nghost-c24=""><a _ngcontent-c24="" class="logo" href="//www.forbes.com/">
	<i _ngcontent-c24="" class="icon icon-forbes-logo" data-ga-track="Forbes Logo Link"></i>
</a>
<!----><a _ngcontent-c24="" class="crumb" data-ga-track="Channel Heading Link Top" href="/opinion">Opinion</a>
<!----><a _ngcontent-c24="" class="hashtag" data-ga-track="Hashtag Click" href="/search/?substream=hashtags&amp;q=Regulation">#Regulation</a>
</channel-path>
	<metrics _ngcontent-c15="" class="fs-text-xs" _nghost-c26=""><time _ngcontent-c26="">Aug 30, 2017 @ 12:34 PM</time>
<!---->
</metrics>
	<!---->
	<!---->
	<!---->
	<!---->
	<a _ngcontent-c15="" class="circ-link fs-text-xs" href="" data-ga-track="Red Circulation Link"></a>
</small>

<!---->

<!----><h1 _ngcontent-c15="" class="fs-headline speakable-headline">Lessons from Hurricane Harvey: Federal Flood Insurance is the Problem, Not the Solution</h1>

<span _ngcontent-c15="" class="badge-wrapper">
	<!---->
	<!---->
	<!---->
</span>

<div _ngcontent-c15=""><script type="text/javascript">performance.mark = performance.mark || function(s) {}; performance.mark('content_title_end');</script></div>
</article-header>
<div _ngcontent-c14="" class="article-wrapper">
	<!----><div _ngcontent-c14="" class="ad-rail-container">
		<!---->
	</div>
	<!----><div _ngcontent-c14="" class="body-container">
		<!---->
		<sharing _ngcontent-c14="" _nghost-c10=""><!----><ul _ngcontent-c10="" class="fs-text-m">
	<li _ngcontent-c10="" class="share-expanded">
		<button _ngcontent-c10="">
			<i _ngcontent-c10="" class="icon icon-share"></i>
		</button>
	</li>
	<!----><li _ngcontent-c10="">
		<button _ngcontent-c10="" class="social-icon email" classname="social-icon email" data-ga-track="Email Click">
			<i _ngcontent-c10="" class="icon icon-email" classname="icon icon-email" data-ga-track="Email Click"></i>
		</button>
	</li><li _ngcontent-c10="">
		<button _ngcontent-c10="" class="social-icon facebook" classname="social-icon facebook" data-ga-track="Facebook Click">
			<i _ngcontent-c10="" class="icon icon-facebook" classname="icon icon-facebook" data-ga-track="Facebook Click"></i>
		</button>
	</li><li _ngcontent-c10="">
		<button _ngcontent-c10="" class="social-icon twitter" classname="social-icon twitter" data-ga-track="Twitter Click">
			<i _ngcontent-c10="" class="icon icon-twitter" classname="icon icon-twitter" data-ga-track="Twitter Click"></i>
		</button>
	</li><li _ngcontent-c10="">
		<button _ngcontent-c10="" class="social-icon linkedin" classname="social-icon linkedin" data-ga-track="Linkedin Click">
			<i _ngcontent-c10="" class="icon icon-linkedin" classname="icon icon-linkedin" data-ga-track="Linkedin Click"></i>
		</button>
	</li><li _ngcontent-c10="">
		<button _ngcontent-c10="" class="social-icon google" classname="social-icon google" data-ga-track="Google Plus Click">
			<i _ngcontent-c10="" class="icon icon-google" classname="icon icon-google" data-ga-track="Google Plus Click"></i>
		</button>
	</li>

	<!---->

	<!---->
</ul>
</sharing>
		<!----><contrib-block _ngcontent-c14="" _nghost-c17=""><div _ngcontent-c17="" class="contrib-container">
	<!----><a _ngcontent-c17="" class="fs-author-avatar" href="/sites/omribenshahar/">
		<!----><img _ngcontent-c17="" class="fs-author-image" src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/144x144/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fblogs-images.forbes.com%2Ffiles%2F2016%2F04%2Fomribenshahar_avatar_1459525674.jpg" data-ga-track="Gravatar Link">
		<!---->
	</a>

	<div _ngcontent-c17="" class="contrib-info">
		<contrib-byline _ngcontent-c17="" _nghost-c27=""><span _ngcontent-c27="" class="fs-author-name contrib-byline-author speakable-author">
	<a _ngcontent-c27="" href="/sites/omribenshahar/" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">
		<!----><!---->Omri Ben-Shahar<!---->
	</a>
</span>

<!----><span _ngcontent-c27="" class="comma">, </span>

<!---->

<!----><span _ngcontent-c27="" class="contrib-byline-type">
	<!---->
	<!---->
	<!----><span _ngcontent-c27="" class="fs-text-s author-type">Contributor</span>
</span>
</contrib-byline>

		<!----><span _ngcontent-c17="" class="contrib-tagline fs-text-xs fs-responsive-text" innerhtml="I write about law, economics, and consumer markets">I write about law, economics, and consumer markets</span>
		<!----><a _ngcontent-c17="" class="full-bio fs-text-xs fs-responsive-text" data-ga-track="contrib block expand">
			<span _ngcontent-c17="" class="icon icon-chevron-down"></span>
		</a>

		<!----><small _ngcontent-c17="" class="legal-disclaimer">Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.</small>

		<!---->

		<!---->

	</div>
</div>

<!---->
</contrib-block>
		<!----><guest-contrib _ngcontent-c14="" _nghost-c18=""><!---->
<div _ngcontent-c18="" class="info-block fs-responsive-text">
	<p _ngcontent-c18="" class="intro fs-text-xxs">Post written by</p>
	<p _ngcontent-c18="" class="name fs-text-m">Omri Ben-Shahar and Kyle D. Logue</p>
</div>
<p _ngcontent-c18="" class="bio fs-text-xs fs-responsive-text">null</p>
</guest-contrib>
		<!---->
		<!----><article-body-container _ngcontent-c14="" class="article-body fs-article fs-responsive-text" _nghost-c20=""><!---->

<!---->

<!---->
<div _ngcontent-c20="" innerhtml="<p>As Hurricane Harvey continues to deluge Texas with devastating rains and floods, and as property losses reach astronomical levels, a pressing question, beyond how much human suffering it has left behind, is who will pay for the reconstruction?</p> 
<p>In the immediate aftermath of every major catastrophe, a noble and irresistible sentiment of mutual support inspires disaster relief. At the rescue phase, when people’s lives are in immediate danger and temporary shelter is needed, such rescue is indeed a critical service that governments should provide. But what about rebuilding? Will the government use taxpayers’ money to help private property owners rebuild? Should it?</p> 
<div id=&quot;attachment_41514822&quot; class=&quot;wp-caption alignnone&quot;> 
 <div class=&quot;article-body-image&quot;> 
  <progressive-image class=&quot;progressive-placeholder&quot; src=&quot;https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F41514822%2F960x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale&quot; low-res-src=&quot;https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/100x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F41514822%2F960x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale&quot;></progressive-image> 
 </div> 
 <div article-image-caption=&quot;&quot;> 
  <div class=&quot;caption-container&quot; ng-class=&quot;caption_state&quot;> 
   <fbs-accordion current=&quot;0&quot;> 
    <p class=&quot;wp-caption-text&quot;>A deluge of rain and rising floodwaters left Houston immersed and helpless. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg</p> 
   </fbs-accordion> 
  </div> 
 </div> 
</div> 
<p>According to longstanding U.S. disaster relief policy, homeowners get almost no federal relief for reconstruction. This was made painfully clear after Katrina, when much of the destruction was not covered by insurance. Many Louisiana homeowners, especially among the poor, were unable to rebuild and abandoned their properties.</p> 
<p> 
 </p> 
<p>The same will be true in Texas. Homeowners will have to bear their own losses because the great majority of them did not buy flood insurance. Despite living in the projected path of storms, most Houston area residents failed to add flood coverage to their property insurance policies.</p> 
<p>How could property owners be so careless? Private flood insurance is not cheap. Standard insurance policies cover losses from fire, theft, and even high winds, but these are relatively inexpensive. In contrast, flood coverage in coastal areas would be very costly and could easily raise an annual premium by $5000 on a typical policy that otherwise costs less than $1000</p> 
<div class=&quot;vestpocket&quot; vest-pocket=&quot;&quot;></div> 
<p>Recognizing that households do not buy private flood insurance, the Federal government has long offered, under the National Flood Insurance Program administered by FEMA, subsidized flood policies. In some parts of the country, homeowners are buying these, <a href=&quot;http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/25/news/economy/hurricane-harvey-flood-insurance/index.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;>but not in Texas</a>. In Houston’s Harris County only 15% of homes have flood insurance. And in the coastal Corpus Christi vicinity, only 20% are covered. Simply put, many people currently being affected by Hurricane Harvey who were not required by mortgage lenders to buy flood insurance chose not to, despite the subsidies.</p> 
<p>Homeowners’ losses in Houston will be particularly high because, like no other U.S. city, Houston is famous for its lax building codes and permissive zoning laws. Homes are not required to have proper flood elevation, and neighborhoods are not planned to minimize flooding. It is this combination—lack of flood-prevention and of flood-insurance—that may account for the magnitude of uninsured property losses the region is now experiencing.</p>"><p class="speakable-paragraph">As Hurricane Harvey continues to deluge Texas with devastating rains and floods, and as property losses reach astronomical levels, a pressing question, beyond how much human suffering it has left behind, is who will pay for the reconstruction?</p> 
<p>In the immediate aftermath of every major catastrophe, a noble and irresistible sentiment of mutual support inspires disaster relief. At the rescue phase, when people’s lives are in immediate danger and temporary shelter is needed, such rescue is indeed a critical service that governments should provide. But what about rebuilding? Will the government use taxpayers’ money to help private property owners rebuild? Should it?</p> 
<div id="attachment_41514822" class="wp-caption alignnone"> 
 <div class="article-body-image"> 
  <progressive-image class="progressive-placeholder" src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F41514822%2F960x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale" low-res-src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/100x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F41514822%2F960x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale"></progressive-image> 
 </div> 
 <div article-image-caption=""> 
  <div class="caption-container" ng-class="caption_state"> 
   <fbs-accordion current="0"> 
    <p class="wp-caption-text">A deluge of rain and rising floodwaters left Houston immersed and helpless. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg</p> 
   </fbs-accordion> 
  </div> 
 </div> 
</div> 
<p>According to longstanding U.S. disaster relief policy, homeowners get almost no federal relief for reconstruction. This was made painfully clear after Katrina, when much of the destruction was not covered by insurance. Many Louisiana homeowners, especially among the poor, were unable to rebuild and abandoned their properties.</p> 
<p> 
 </p> 
<p>The same will be true in Texas. Homeowners will have to bear their own losses because the great majority of them did not buy flood insurance. Despite living in the projected path of storms, most Houston area residents failed to add flood coverage to their property insurance policies.</p> 
<p>How could property owners be so careless? Private flood insurance is not cheap. Standard insurance policies cover losses from fire, theft, and even high winds, but these are relatively inexpensive. In contrast, flood coverage in coastal areas would be very costly and could easily raise an annual premium by $5000 on a typical policy that otherwise costs less than $1000</p> 
<div class="vestpocket" vest-pocket=""></div> 
<p>Recognizing that households do not buy private flood insurance, the Federal government has long offered, under the National Flood Insurance Program administered by FEMA, subsidized flood policies. In some parts of the country, homeowners are buying these, <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/25/news/economy/hurricane-harvey-flood-insurance/index.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">but not in Texas</a>. In Houston’s Harris County only 15% of homes have flood insurance. And in the coastal Corpus Christi vicinity, only 20% are covered. Simply put, many people currently being affected by Hurricane Harvey who were not required by mortgage lenders to buy flood insurance chose not to, despite the subsidies.</p> 
<p>Homeowners’ losses in Houston will be particularly high because, like no other U.S. city, Houston is famous for its lax building codes and permissive zoning laws. Homes are not required to have proper flood elevation, and neighborhoods are not planned to minimize flooding. It is this combination—lack of flood-prevention and of flood-insurance—that may account for the magnitude of uninsured property losses the region is now experiencing.</p></div>
<!---->
<!---->
<!---->
</article-body-container>
		<!---->
		<footer _ngcontent-c14="" class="article-footer">
			<!----><pagination-nav _ngcontent-c14="" _nghost-c21=""><!---->

	Page <strong _ngcontent-c21="">1 / 2</strong>

<!----><a _ngcontent-c21="" class="next" data-ga-track="Continue Reading" href="/sites/omribenshahar/2017/08/30/lessons-from-hurricane-harvey-federal-flood-insurance-is-the-problem-not-the-solution/2">Continue <i _ngcontent-c21="" class="icon icon-chevron-right"></i></a>
</pagination-nav>
			<sharing _ngcontent-c14="" _nghost-c10=""><!----><ul _ngcontent-c10="" class="fs-text-m">
	<li _ngcontent-c10="" class="share-expanded">
		<button _ngcontent-c10="">
			<i _ngcontent-c10="" class="icon icon-share"></i>
		</button>
	</li>
	<!----><li _ngcontent-c10="">
		<button _ngcontent-c10="" class="social-icon email" classname="social-icon email" data-ga-track="Email Click">
			<i _ngcontent-c10="" class="icon icon-email" classname="icon icon-email" data-ga-track="Email Click"></i>
		</button>
	</li><li _ngcontent-c10="">
		<button _ngcontent-c10="" class="social-icon facebook" classname="social-icon facebook" data-ga-track="Facebook Click">
			<i _ngcontent-c10="" class="icon icon-facebook" classname="icon icon-facebook" data-ga-track="Facebook Click"></i>
		</button>
	</li><li _ngcontent-c10="">
		<button _ngcontent-c10="" class="social-icon twitter" classname="social-icon twitter" data-ga-track="Twitter Click">
			<i _ngcontent-c10="" class="icon icon-twitter" classname="icon icon-twitter" data-ga-track="Twitter Click"></i>
		</button>
	</li><li _ngcontent-c10="">
		<button _ngcontent-c10="" class="social-icon linkedin" classname="social-icon linkedin" data-ga-track="Linkedin Click">
			<i _ngcontent-c10="" class="icon icon-linkedin" classname="icon icon-linkedin" data-ga-track="Linkedin Click"></i>
		</button>
	</li><li _ngcontent-c10="">
		<button _ngcontent-c10="" class="social-icon google" classname="social-icon google" data-ga-track="Google Plus Click">
			<i _ngcontent-c10="" class="icon icon-google" classname="icon icon-google" data-ga-track="Google Plus Click"></i>
		</button>
	</li>

	<!---->

	<!---->
</ul>
</sharing>
			<printbar _ngcontent-c14="" _nghost-c22=""><ul _ngcontent-c22="" class="fs-text-xxs fs-responsive-text">
	<li _ngcontent-c22="" class="print">
		<a _ngcontent-c22="">Print</a>
	</li>
	<li _ngcontent-c22="">
		<a _ngcontent-c22="" href="mailto:feedback@forbes.com">Website Feedback</a>
	</li>
	<li _ngcontent-c22="">
		<a _ngcontent-c22="" href="https://www.forbes.com/tips/" target="_blank">News Tip</a>
	</li>
	<li _ngcontent-c22="" class="corrections">
		<a _ngcontent-c22="" href="mailto:corrections@forbes.com?subject=Report%20Correction&amp;body=Reporting%20Correction%20for%3A%0A%0ATitle%3A%20Lessons%20from%20Hurricane%20Harvey%3A%20Federal%20Flood%20Insurance%20is%20the%20Problem%2C%20Not%20the%20Solution%0AAuthor%3A%20Omri%20Ben-Shahar%0AURL%3A%20%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fomribenshahar%2F2017%2F08%2F30%2Flessons-from-hurricane-harvey-federal-flood-insurance-is-the-problem-not-the-solution%2F%0A%0A--%0A%0AYour%20Name%3A%0ACorrection%20Request%3A%0A%0A--%0A%0AThank%20you%20for%20reporting%20a%20correction.%20Forbes%20staff%20will%20review%20your%20concern%20shortly.">Report Corrections</a>
	</li>
	<li _ngcontent-c22="">
		<a _ngcontent-c22="" href="http://forbesreprints.magreprints.com" target="_blank">Reprints &amp; Permissions</a>
	</li>
</ul></printbar>
			<!---->
		</footer>
	</div>
</div>

<!----><div _ngcontent-c14="">
	<!---->
	<!---->
</div>
</page>
</stream>
<!---->

<sidenav _ngcontent-c2="" _nghost-c7="" class="undefined-expanded"><!---->

<!---->

<!---->
</sidenav>

<!---->
</app>
	</app-root><script id="ng-templates-state" type="application/json">{&q;environmentName&q;:&q;prod&q;,&q;is_mobile&q;:false,&q;/forbesapi/content/uri.json?shortcodes=true&a;slides=true&a;type=ng&a;tickers=true&a;bvallpages=true&a;autovpslider=true&a;stream=true&a;compressimages=true&a;mobile=false&a;prgsmobileads=false&a;relativeVideo=true&a;videoplayertype=brightcove_perform_with_keyvalues&a;swimlane=&a;uri=http://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/2017/08/30/lessons-from-hurricane-harvey-federal-flood-insurance-is-the-problem-not-the-solution/&q;:{&q;content&q;:{&q;id&q;:&q;content_59a5f0b364aaf97b128dd0c3&q;,&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAndPostId/blog/post/4346-375&q;,&q;source&q;:&q;blogs&q;,&q;author&q;:&q;Omri Ben-Shahar&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;Lessons from Hurricane Harvey: Federal Flood Insurance is the Problem, Not the Solution&q;,&q;date&q;:1504110840000,&q;body&q;:&q;&l;p&g;As Hurricane Harvey continues to deluge Texas with devastating rains and floods, and as property losses reach astronomical levels, a pressing question, beyond how much human suffering it has left behind, is who will pay for the reconstruction?\r\n\r\nIn the immediate aftermath of every major catastrophe, a noble and irresistible sentiment of mutual support inspires disaster relief. At the rescue phase, when people&a;rsquo;s lives are in immediate danger and temporary shelter is needed, such rescue is indeed a critical service that governments should provide. But what about rebuilding? Will the government use taxpayers&a;rsquo; money to help private property owners rebuild? Should it?\r\n\r\n[caption id=\&q;attachment_41514822\&q; photocredit=\&q;\&q;  align=\&q;\&q; width=\&q;960\&q;]&l;img class=\&q;dam-image bloomberg size-large wp-image-41514822\&q; src=\&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/41514822/960x0.jpg?fit=scale\&q; data-height=\&q;640\&q; data-width=\&q;960\&q;&g; A deluge of rain and rising floodwaters left Houston immersed and helpless. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg[/caption]\r\n\r\nAccording to longstanding U.S. disaster relief policy, homeowners get almost no federal relief for reconstruction. This was made painfully clear after Katrina, when much of the destruction was not covered by insurance. Many Louisiana homeowners, especially among the poor, were unable to rebuild and abandoned their properties.\r\n\r\nThe same will be true in Texas. Homeowners will have to bear their own losses because the great majority of them did not buy flood insurance. Despite living in the projected path of storms, most Houston area residents failed to add flood coverage to their property insurance policies.\r\n\r\nHow could property owners be so careless? Private flood insurance is not cheap. Standard insurance policies cover losses from fire, theft, and even high winds, but these are relatively inexpensive. In contrast, flood coverage in coastal areas would be very costly and could easily raise an annual premium by $5000 on a typical policy that otherwise costs less than $1000\r\n\r\nRecognizing that households do not buy private flood insurance, the Federal government has long offered, under the National Flood Insurance Program administered by FEMA, subsidized flood policies. In some parts of the country, homeowners are buying these, &l;a href=\&q;http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/25/news/economy/hurricane-harvey-flood-insurance/index.html\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q;&g;but not in Texas&l;/a&g;. In Houston&a;rsquo;s Harris County only 15% of homes have flood insurance. And in the coastal Corpus Christi vicinity, only 20% are covered. Simply put, many people currently being affected by Hurricane Harvey who were not required by mortgage lenders to buy flood insurance chose not to, despite the subsidies.\r\n\r\nHomeowners&a;rsquo; losses in Houston will be particularly high because, like no other U.S. city, Houston is famous for its lax building codes and permissive zoning laws. Homes are not required to have proper flood elevation, and neighborhoods are not planned to minimize flooding. It is this combination&a;mdash;lack of flood-prevention and of flood-insurance&a;mdash;that may account for the magnitude of uninsured property losses the region is now experiencing.\r\n&l;!--nextpage--&g;\r\nThe immensity&a;nbsp;of Houston&a;rsquo;s disaster, and the likely disproportionate concentration of uninsured losses among the less affluent, could easily teach the wrong lesson. As people begin to dig out from the inundation and struggle to rebuild, we will hear calls for expanding the federal flood insurance coverage, so that more working class people would be able to afford flood insurance in the future. That would be exactly the wrong lesson. It would only guarantee an even bigger disaster when the next 500-year storm (which now seem to arrive in quick succession) hits.\r\n\r\nGovernment subsidized flood insurance is a bad idea for two big reasons. First, &l;a href=\&q;https://www.stanfordlawreview.org/print/article/the-perverse-effects-of-subsidized-weather-insurance/\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q;&g;our own research&l;/a&g; shows that the main beneficiaries of the subsidies are not the poor, but rather affluent homeowners living in waterfront properties. And, second, subsidies distort the incentive to develop real estate in devastation-prone areas. If property owners do not have to pay the full cost of living with extreme weather, they flock to such regions, passing on much of the disaster risk to unwitting taxpayers.\r\n\r\nConsider the coastal areas of Florida, which have for decades been rapidly developing, notwithstanding the obvious hurricane dangers. This development is heavily subsidized with cheap insurance, both by the state (offering cheap wind losses insurance) and by FEMA (for flood losses). The Florida strip that Hurricane Andrew destroyed in 1992, leaving $25 billion in losses, has been so hastily and daringly redeveloped that the same storm today would cause well over double those losses. Subsidized property insurance made it so attractive for so many people to move to waterfront communities, that coastal exposure now represents 80 percent of all property in Florida. And it is this artificially cheap flood insurance that drives people everywhere (particularly the affluent) to build and rebuild so close to the water, where models predict that in the next 60 years one out of four houses within 500 feet of the shoreline will be claimed by erosion!\r\n\r\nOverdevelopment of flood plains and frequent large storms regularly leave the federal flood insurance program with big deficits. Attempts to reform the program after Superstorm Sandy, and to raise flood premiums to their true risk levels, failed politically. What we need instead of a bigger flood insurance program is a viable private insurance market for floods. Such a market would give home purchasers realistic signals about the flood risks they are buying into. It would give homebuilders incentives to build houses on higher grounds (or on stilts) and further away from flood plains, to present more insurable properties to their buyers. It would even motivate cities to write better building codes and zoning restrictions, to reduce local property insurance premiums. In extreme cases, private insurance markets might decline to offer property coverage, which, too, could be a good signal to homeowners.\r\n\r\nHow do we encourage the market for private flood insurance? Less, rather than more government provided flood insurance is good start. And perhaps federally underwritten reinsurance, as we do with terrorism risk, to shield private insurers from catastrophic losses.\r\n\r\nBut if past experience has taught us anything about flood preparedness, it is that once the people of Houston are safe and the water recedes, the thing many will demand but we least need is more subsidized federal flood insurance. It would make such large losses more likely in the future.\r\n\r\n&a;nbsp;&l;/p&g;&q;,&q;description&q;:&q;When the magnitude of uninsured flood loss from Harvey becomes tragically clear, many will demand more comprehensive federally subsidized flood insurance. This is exactly what we do NOT need: It would make large flood losses more likely in the future.&q;,&q;image&q;:&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/41514822/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;blog&q;,&q;storyType&q;:&q;post&q;,&q;uri&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/2017/08/30/lessons-from-hurricane-harvey-federal-flood-insurance-is-the-problem-not-the-solution/&q;,&q;comments&q;:[],&q;visible&q;:true,&q;authors&q;:[{&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAuthorId/blog/author/2005051&q;,&q;name&q;:&q;Omri Ben-Shahar&q;,&q;avatars&q;:[{&q;size&q;:400,&q;image&q;:&q;https://blogs-images.forbes.com/files/2016/04/omribenshahar_avatar_1459525674.jpg&q;},{&q;size&q;:136,&q;image&q;:&q;https://blogs-images.forbes.com/files/2016/04/omribenshahar_avatar_1459525674.jpg&q;},{&q;size&q;:62,&q;image&q;:&q;https://blogs-images.forbes.com/files/2016/04/omribenshahar_avatar_1459525674-62x62.jpg&q;},{&q;size&q;:40,&q;image&q;:&q;https://blogs-images.forbes.com/files/2016/04/omribenshahar_avatar_1459525674-40x40.jpg&q;}],&q;url&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Contributor&q;,&q;profileUrl&q;:&q;/sites/omribenshahar/&q;,&q;twitterName&q;:&q;omribenshahar&q;,&q;authorType&q;:&q;individual&q;,&q;email&q;:&q;Omri@uchicago.edu&q;,&q;blog&q;:false,&q;timestamp&q;:1468025539781,&q;shortBio&q;:&q;I write about law, economics, and consumer markets&q;,&q;amazon&q;:&q;https://www.amazon.com/More-Than-You-Wanted-Know/dp/0691161704&q;,&q;webSite&q;:&q;http://home.uchicago.edu/omri&q;,&q;topics&q;:[&q;law&q;,&q;oped&q;],&q;description&q;:&q;I am a law professor at the University of Chicago, the editor of a leading academic journal, and a global expert on contract law and consumer market regulation. I am the co-author of a recent book titled More Than You Wanted to Know, which documents the failure of disclosure laws, and has been featured in the New York Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Forbes, NPR’s All Things Considered, and translated to Chinese. I also teach courses on food regulation, trademark law, and insurance law. I have doctoral degrees in economics and in law from Harvard University.&q;,&q;primaryBlogNaturalId&q;:&q;blogAuthorId/blog/author/blog-4346&q;,&q;shortUri&q;:&q;http://onforb.es/1M6uhsk&q;,&q;displayChannel&q;:&q;opinions&q;,&q;contributorSince&q;:1459540003000,&q;slug&q;:&q;omribenshahar&q;,&q;showNoVestPocket&q;:false,&q;embargo&q;:false,&q;primaryChannelId&q;:&q;channel_5&q;,&q;enableContribContact&q;:true,&q;enableTwitterFeed&q;:false,&q;disableCanonical&q;:false,&q;disableDigest&q;:false,&q;forbesTwitterProfile&q;:{&q;screenName&q;:&q;omribenshahar&q;,&q;name&q;:&q;Omri Ben-Shahar&q;,&q;profileImageUrl&q;:&q;http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/740361687249735680/Af3JaDVH.jpg&q;,&q;description&q;:&q;I am a law professor at the University of Chicago. I am interested in consumer markets, food regulation, privacy, and more generally in law-and-economics.&q;,&q;createdDate&q;:1465350620000,&q;location&q;:&q;Chicago, IL&q;,&q;url&q;:null,&q;expandedUrl&q;:null,&q;displayUrl&q;:null,&q;verified&q;:false},&q;inactive&q;:true,&q;primaryChannel&q;:{&q;id&q;:&q;channel_5&q;,&q;channelId&q;:&q;channel_5&q;,&q;channelName&q;:&q;Opinion&q;,&q;url&q;:&q;/opinion&q;,&q;shortName&q;:&q;Opinion&q;},&q;allowEmail&q;:false,&q;avatar_map&q;:{}},{&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAuthorId/blog/author/blog-4346&q;,&q;avatars&q;:[{&q;size&q;:0,&q;image&q;:&q;&q;},{&q;size&q;:0,&q;image&q;:&q;&q;},{&q;size&q;:0,&q;image&q;:&q;&q;},{&q;size&q;:0,&q;image&q;:&q;&q;}],&q;url&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/&q;,&q;profileUrl&q;:&q;https://blogs.forbes.com/omribenshahar/profile/&q;,&q;twitterName&q;:&q;omribenshahar&q;,&q;authorType&q;:&q;individual&q;,&q;blog&q;:true,&q;timestamp&q;:1517617004926,&q;topics&q;:[&q;law&q;,&q;oped&q;],&q;primaryBlogNaturalId&q;:&q;blogAuthorId/blog/author/blog-4346&q;,&q;primaryContributor&q;:&q;blogAuthorId/blog/author/2005051&q;,&q;primaryContributorData&q;:{&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAuthorId/blog/author/2005051&q;,&q;name&q;:&q;Omri Ben-Shahar&q;,&q;avatars&q;:[{&q;size&q;:136,&q;image&q;:&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/files/2016/04/omribenshahar_avatar_1459525674.jpg&q;},{&q;size&q;:400,&q;image&q;:&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/files/2016/04/omribenshahar_avatar_1459525674.jpg&q;},{&q;size&q;:40,&q;image&q;:&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/files/2016/04/omribenshahar_avatar_1459525674-40x40.jpg&q;},{&q;size&q;:62,&q;image&q;:&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/files/2016/04/omribenshahar_avatar_1459525674-62x62.jpg&q;}],&q;blog&q;:false,&q;shortBio&q;:&q;I write about law, economics, and consumer markets&q;,&q;description&q;:&q;I am a law professor at the University of Chicago and a global expert on contract law and consumer market regulation. I am the co-author of a recent book titled More Than You Wanted to Know, which documents the failure of disclosure laws. I also teach food regulation, trademark law, and economics. I have doctoral degrees in economics and in law from Harvard University. Follow me on twitter @omribenshahar&q;,&q;allowEmail&q;:false},&q;shortUri&q;:&q;http://onforb.es/1M6uhsk&q;,&q;displayChannel&q;:&q;opinions&q;,&q;contributorSince&q;:1459525740000,&q;slug&q;:&q;omribenshahar&q;,&q;showNoVestPocket&q;:false,&q;embargo&q;:false,&q;primaryChannelId&q;:&q;channel_5&q;,&q;enableContribContact&q;:false,&q;enableTwitterFeed&q;:false,&q;disableCanonical&q;:false,&q;disableDigest&q;:false,&q;forbesTwitterProfile&q;:{&q;screenName&q;:&q;omribenshahar&q;,&q;name&q;:&q;Omri Ben-Shahar&q;,&q;profileImageUrl&q;:&q;http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/740361687249735680/Af3JaDVH.jpg&q;,&q;description&q;:&q;I am a law professor at the University of Chicago. I am interested in consumer markets, food regulation, privacy, and more generally in law-and-economics.&q;,&q;createdDate&q;:1465350620000,&q;location&q;:&q;Chicago, IL&q;,&q;url&q;:null,&q;expandedUrl&q;:null,&q;displayUrl&q;:null,&q;verified&q;:false},&q;inactive&q;:false,&q;primaryChannel&q;:{&q;id&q;:&q;channel_5&q;,&q;channelId&q;:&q;channel_5&q;,&q;channelName&q;:&q;Opinion&q;,&q;url&q;:&q;/opinion&q;,&q;shortName&q;:&q;Opinion&q;},&q;allowEmail&q;:false,&q;avatar_map&q;:{}}],&q;channelSection&q;:[{&q;channelId&q;:&q;channel_5&q;},{&q;channelId&q;:&q;channel_5&q;,&q;sectionId&q;:&q;section_84&q;}],&q;blogType&q;:&q;individual&q;,&q;sitePage&q;:&q;forbes.com/opinions/blogs/omribenshahar/index.html&q;,&q;displayChannel&q;:&q;opinions&q;,&q;vestPocketList&q;:[{&q;id&q;:&q;59726c5d64aaf930c1a308f1&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;blog&q;,&q;uri&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/2017/07/21/teacher-certification-makes-public-school-education-worse-not-better/&q;,&q;image&q;:&q;https://blogs-images.forbes.com/omribenshahar/files/2017/07/pupil-spending-1200x1079.jpg&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;Teacher Certification Makes Public School Education Worse, Not Better&q;,&q;contentType&q;:&q;blog&q;,&q;position&q;:0,&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAndPostId/blog/post/4346-355&q;,&q;authorImage&q;:&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/files/2016/04/omribenshahar_avatar_1459525674-40x40.jpg&q;,&q;authorUrl&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/&q;,&q;authorType&q;:&q;Contributor&q;,&q;authorName&q;:&q;Omri Ben-Shahar&q;,&q;blogType&q;:&q;individual&q;},{&q;id&q;:&q;57e3f48264aaf93de4c1aae5&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;blog&q;,&q;uri&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/2016/09/22/should-carmakers-be-liable-when-a-self-driving-car-crashes/&q;,&q;image&q;:&q;http://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/26dda5bf43f14225b51e470416d7ea6a/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;Should Carmakers Be Liable When A Self-Driving Car Crashes?&q;,&q;contentType&q;:&q;blog&q;,&q;position&q;:1,&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAndPostId/blog/post/4346-162&q;,&q;authorImage&q;:&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/files/2016/04/omribenshahar_avatar_1459525674-40x40.jpg&q;,&q;authorUrl&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/&q;,&q;authorType&q;:&q;Contributor&q;,&q;authorName&q;:&q;Omri Ben-Shahar&q;,&q;blogType&q;:&q;individual&q;},{&q;id&q;:&q;588f9d6a64aaf925566b3a01&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;blog&q;,&q;uri&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/2017/01/30/privacy-protection-without-law-how-data-privacy-is-shaped-by-market-forces/&q;,&q;image&q;:&q;http://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/ab582d7dc68648f98ec2ea41c33691c5/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;Privacy Protection Without Law: How Data Privacy Is Shaped By Market Forces&q;,&q;contentType&q;:&q;blog&q;,&q;position&q;:2,&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAndPostId/blog/post/4346-244&q;,&q;authorImage&q;:&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/files/2016/04/omribenshahar_avatar_1459525674-40x40.jpg&q;,&q;authorUrl&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/&q;,&q;authorType&q;:&q;Contributor&q;,&q;authorName&q;:&q;Omri Ben-Shahar&q;,&q;blogType&q;:&q;individual&q;},{&q;id&q;:&q;592a4a3f64aaf941135acfc3&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;blog&q;,&q;uri&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/2017/05/28/the-false-hope-of-graduate-student-unions/&q;,&q;image&q;:&q;http://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/37612658/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;The False Hope Of Graduate Student Unions&q;,&q;contentType&q;:&q;blog&q;,&q;position&q;:3,&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAndPostId/blog/post/4346-319&q;,&q;authorImage&q;:&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/files/2016/04/omribenshahar_avatar_1459525674-40x40.jpg&q;,&q;authorUrl&q;:&q;http://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/&q;,&q;authorType&q;:&q;Contributor&q;,&q;authorName&q;:&q;Omri Ben-Shahar&q;,&q;blogType&q;:&q;individual&q;},{&q;type&q;:&q;slide&q;,&q;uri&q;:&q;https://www.forbes.com/pictures/mlj45jggj/1-detroit/&q;,&q;image&q;:&q;http://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/026M72T8ElbzS/&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;The 10 Most Dangerous U.S. Cities&q;,&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAndSlideId/blog/slide/986-6336&q;,&q;count&q;:32927,&q;reason&q;:&q;MP-G&q;},{&q;type&q;:&q;blog&q;,&q;uri&q;:&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2018/02/17/box-office-black-panther-superhero-fatigues-to-record-crushing-76m-friday/&q;,&q;image&q;:&q;https://blogs-images.forbes.com/scottmendelson/files/2018/02/MV5BNDg3MTY3ODMzMV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwODgwMDk1NDM@._V1_SX1777_CR001777937_AL_-1-1200x633.jpg&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;Box Office: &s;Black Panther&s; Superhero Fatigues To Record $76M Friday&q;,&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAndPostId/blog/post/2595-47832&q;,&q;count&q;:493172,&q;reason&q;:&q;PV-D&q;},{&q;type&q;:&q;slide&q;,&q;uri&q;:&q;https://www.forbes.com/pictures/feki45eieki/the-toughest-jobs-to-fil/&q;,&q;image&q;:&q;http://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/316974200/&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;The Toughest Jobs To Fill In 2017&q;,&q;naturalId&q;:&q;blogAndSlideId/blog/slide/2175-15175&q;,&q;count&q;:23126,&q;reason&q;:&q;MP-G&q;},{&q;type&q;:&q;video&q;,&q;uri&q;:&q;https://www.forbes.com/video/5194759064001/&q;,&q;image&q;:&q;http://i.forbesimg.com/media/video/2018/02/06/5194759064001_still.jpg&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;Why So Many Millennials Experience Impostor Syndrome&q;,&q;reason&q;:&q;MP-V&q;}],&q;generatedId&q;:&q;hghj45gki&q;,&q;manualDescription&q;:&q;When the magnitude of uninsured flood loss from Harvey becomes tragically clear, many will demand more comprehensive federally subsidized flood insurance. This is exactly what we do NOT need: It would make large flood losses more likely in the future.&q;,&q;primaryChannelId&q;:&q;channel_5&q;,&q;vestPocketPosition&q;:6,&q;siteSlug&q;:&q;omribenshahar&q;,&q;preview&q;:false,&q;showComments&q;:true,&q;timestamp&q;:1504110859741,&q;commentCount&q;:1,&q;calledOutCommentCount&q;:0,&q;statsEntities&q;:[{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Disaster_Accident&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Weather&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Environment&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Insurance&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Types of insurance&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Money&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Finance&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;National Flood Insurance Program&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Flood insurance&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Home insurance&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Property insurance&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Flood&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Reinsurance&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Health insurance coverage in the United States&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;National Flood Insurance Act&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:null},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Professional Information Services - NEC&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:0},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Shell Companies&q;,&q;type&q;:null,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Federal Emergency Management Agency&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Organization&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;real estate&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;IndustryTerm&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Texas&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;ProvinceOrState&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;flood-insurance&a;mdash;that&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;IndustryTerm&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;federal flood insurance coverage&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;IndustryTerm&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;subsidized federal flood insurance&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;IndustryTerm&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Houston&a;rsquo;s Harris County&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;ProvinceOrState&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Standard Insurance&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Company&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Federal government&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Organization&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;wind losses insurance&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;IndustryTerm&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;insurance markets&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;IndustryTerm&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;flood insurance&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;IndustryTerm&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.8},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Louisiana&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;ProvinceOrState&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Florida&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;ProvinceOrState&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;property insurance&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;IndustryTerm&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;property insurance policies&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;IndustryTerm&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;insurance market&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;IndustryTerm&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;United States&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Country&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Luke Sharrett&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Person&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Houston&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;City&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.8},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Photographer&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Position&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Corpus Christi Day&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Holiday&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;local property insurance premiums&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;IndustryTerm&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;federal flood insurance program&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;IndustryTerm&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;insurance policies cover losses&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;IndustryTerm&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;flood insurance program&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;IndustryTerm&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0.2},{&q;id&q;:null,&q;name&q;:&q;Bloomberg&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;Company&q;,&q;relevance&q;:0}],&q;showNoVestPocket&q;:false,&q;googleKeywords&q;:[&q;hurricane&q;,&q; harvey&q;,&q; flood&q;,&q; insurance&q;,&q; houston&q;,&q; texas&q;,&q; fema&q;,&q; nfip&q;],&q;writtenByForbesStaff&q;:false,&q;templateType&q;:&q;standard&q;,&q;enableSigfile&q;:false,&q;guestContributor&q;:{&q;name&q;:&q;Omri Ben-Shahar and Kyle D. Logue&q;,&q;intro&q;:&q;Post written by&q;,&q;position&q;:&q;top&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;post&q;},&q;primaryChannel&q;:{&q;id&q;:&q;channel_5&q;,&q;channelId&q;:&q;channel_5&q;,&q;channelName&q;:&q;Opinion&q;,&q;url&q;:&q;/opinion&q;,&q;shortName&q;:&q;Opinion&q;},&q;pages&q;:[&q;&l;p&g;As Hurricane Harvey continues to deluge Texas with devastating rains and floods, and as property losses reach astronomical levels, a pressing question, beyond how much human suffering it has left behind, is who will pay for the reconstruction?&l;/p&g; \n&l;p&g;In the immediate aftermath of every major catastrophe, a noble and irresistible sentiment of mutual support inspires disaster relief. At the rescue phase, when people’s lives are in immediate danger and temporary shelter is needed, such rescue is indeed a critical service that governments should provide. But what about rebuilding? Will the government use taxpayers’ money to help private property owners rebuild? Should it?&l;/p&g; \n&l;div id=\&q;attachment_41514822\&q; class=\&q;wp-caption alignnone\&q;&g; \n &l;div class=\&q;article-body-image\&q;&g; \n  &l;img class=\&q;dam-image bloomberg size-large wp-image-41514822\&q; src=\&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/41514822/960x0.jpg?fit=scale\&q; data-height=\&q;640\&q; data-width=\&q;960\&q; /&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n &l;div article-image-caption=\&q;\&q;&g; \n  &l;div class=\&q;caption-container\&q; ng-class=\&q;caption_state\&q;&g; \n   &l;fbs-accordion current=\&q;0\&q;&g; \n    &l;p class=\&q;wp-caption-text\&q;&g;A deluge of rain and rising floodwaters left Houston immersed and helpless. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg&l;/p&g; \n   &l;/fbs-accordion&g; \n  &l;/div&g; \n &l;/div&g; \n&l;/div&g; \n&l;p&g;According to longstanding U.S. disaster relief policy, homeowners get almost no federal relief for reconstruction. This was made painfully clear after Katrina, when much of the destruction was not covered by insurance. Many Louisiana homeowners, especially among the poor, were unable to rebuild and abandoned their properties.&l;/p&g; \n&l;p&g; \n &l;fbs-ad position=\&q;inread\&q; progressive=\&q;\&q;&g;&l;/fbs-ad&g;&l;/p&g; \n&l;p&g;The same will be true in Texas. Homeowners will have to bear their own losses because the great majority of them did not buy flood insurance. Despite living in the projected path of storms, most Houston area residents failed to add flood coverage to their property insurance policies.&l;/p&g; \n&l;p&g;How could property owners be so careless? Private flood insurance is not cheap. Standard insurance policies cover losses from fire, theft, and even high winds, but these are relatively inexpensive. In contrast, flood coverage in coastal areas would be very costly and could easily raise an annual premium by $5000 on a typical policy that otherwise costs less than $1000&l;/p&g; \n&l;div class=\&q;vestpocket\&q; vest-pocket=\&q;\&q;&g;&l;/div&g; \n&l;p&g;Recognizing that households do not buy private flood insurance, the Federal government has long offered, under the National Flood Insurance Program administered by FEMA, subsidized flood policies. In some parts of the country, homeowners are buying these, &l;a href=\&q;http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/25/news/economy/hurricane-harvey-flood-insurance/index.html\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q; rel=\&q;nofollow\&q;&g;but not in Texas&l;/a&g;. In Houston’s Harris County only 15% of homes have flood insurance. And in the coastal Corpus Christi vicinity, only 20% are covered. Simply put, many people currently being affected by Hurricane Harvey who were not required by mortgage lenders to buy flood insurance chose not to, despite the subsidies.&l;/p&g; \n&l;p&g;Homeowners’ losses in Houston will be particularly high because, like no other U.S. city, Houston is famous for its lax building codes and permissive zoning laws. Homes are not required to have proper flood elevation, and neighborhoods are not planned to minimize flooding. It is this combination—lack of flood-prevention and of flood-insurance—that may account for the magnitude of uninsured property losses the region is now experiencing.&l;/p&g;&q;,&q;&l;p&g;The immensity&a;nbsp;of Houston’s disaster, and the likely disproportionate concentration of uninsured losses among the less affluent, could easily teach the wrong lesson. As people begin to dig out from the inundation and struggle to rebuild, we will hear calls for expanding the federal flood insurance coverage, so that more working class people would be able to afford flood insurance in the future. That would be exactly the wrong lesson. It would only guarantee an even bigger disaster when the next 500-year storm (which now seem to arrive in quick succession) hits.&l;/p&g; \n&l;p&g;Government subsidized flood insurance is a bad idea for two big reasons. First, &l;a href=\&q;https://www.stanfordlawreview.org/print/article/the-perverse-effects-of-subsidized-weather-insurance/\&q; target=\&q;_blank\&q; rel=\&q;nofollow\&q;&g;our own research&l;/a&g; shows that the main beneficiaries of the subsidies are not the poor, but rather affluent homeowners living in waterfront properties. And, second, subsidies distort the incentive to develop real estate in devastation-prone areas. If property owners do not have to pay the full cost of living with extreme weather, they flock to such regions, passing on much of the disaster risk to unwitting taxpayers.&l;/p&g; \n&l;p&g;Consider the coastal areas of Florida, which have for decades been rapidly developing, notwithstanding the obvious hurricane dangers. This development is heavily subsidized with cheap insurance, both by the state (offering cheap wind losses insurance) and by FEMA (for flood losses). The Florida strip that Hurricane Andrew destroyed in 1992, leaving $25 billion in losses, has been so hastily and daringly redeveloped that the same storm today would cause well over double those losses. Subsidized property insurance made it so attractive for so many people to move to waterfront communities, that coastal exposure now represents 80 percent of all property in Florida. And it is this artificially cheap flood insurance that drives people everywhere (particularly the affluent) to build and rebuild so close to the water, where models predict that in the next 60 years one out of four houses within 500 feet of the shoreline will be claimed by erosion!&l;/p&g; \n&l;p&g;Overdevelopment of flood plains and frequent large storms regularly leave the federal flood insurance program with big deficits. Attempts to reform the program after Superstorm Sandy, and to raise flood premiums to their true risk levels, failed politically. What we need instead of a bigger flood insurance program is a viable private insurance market for floods. Such a market would give home purchasers realistic signals about the flood risks they are buying into. It would give homebuilders incentives to build houses on higher grounds (or on stilts) and further away from flood plains, to present more insurable properties to their buyers. It would even motivate cities to write better building codes and zoning restrictions, to reduce local property insurance premiums. In extreme cases, private insurance markets might decline to offer property coverage, which, too, could be a good signal to homeowners.&l;/p&g; \n&l;p&g; \n &l;fbs-ad position=\&q;inread\&q; progressive=\&q;\&q;&g;&l;/fbs-ad&g;&l;/p&g; \n&l;p&g;How do we encourage the market for private flood insurance? Less, rather than more government provided flood insurance is good start. And perhaps federally underwritten reinsurance, as we do with terrorism risk, to shield private insurers from catastrophic losses.&l;/p&g; \n&l;p&g;But if past experience has taught us anything about flood preparedness, it is that once the people of Houston are safe and the water recedes, the thing many will demand but we least need is more subsidized federal flood insurance. It would make such large losses more likely in the future.&l;/p&g; \n&l;div class=\&q;vestpocket\&q; vest-pocket=\&q;\&q;&g;&l;/div&g; \n&l;p&g;&a;nbsp;&l;/p&g;&q;],&q;channelSectionMappings&q;:[{&q;id&q;:&q;channel_5&q;,&q;channelName&q;:&q;Opinion&q;,&q;url&q;:&q;/opinion&q;},{&q;id&q;:&q;channel_5section_84&q;,&q;channelName&q;:&q;Opinion&q;,&q;sectionName&q;:&q;Law &a; Regulation&q;,&q;url&q;:&q;/law-regulation&q;}],&q;blogId&q;:&q;4346&q;,&q;disableDigest&q;:false,&q;pTagCount&q;:15,&q;hashtags&q;:[&q;Regulation&q;],&q;hideDescription&q;:false,&q;sponsored&q;:false,&q;doNotPaginate&q;:false,&q;editorsPick&q;:false,&q;sentimentScore&q;:-0.371456,&q;numberOfImages&q;:1,&q;relativeVideo&q;:{&q;videoId&q;:&q;5731506251001&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;3 Ways To Save For Retirement At Tax Time&q;,&q;playerId&q;:&q;S1EBSbDn&q;,&q;keyValues&q;:&q;displaysection=&a;fl=&a;channel=opinion&a;swimlane=&a;specialslot=&a;section=opinion:law&a;regulation&a;id=blogAndPostId/blog/post/4346-375&a;brand=&a;displaychannel=opinions&q;,&q;autoPlay&q;:true},&q;relativeVideos&q;:[{&q;videoId&q;:&q;5704960032001&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;Time for Some Retirement Housekeeping&q;,&q;playerId&q;:&q;S1EBSbDn&q;,&q;keyValues&q;:&q;displaysection=&a;fl=&a;channel=opinion&a;swimlane=&a;specialslot=&a;section=opinion:law&a;regulation&a;id=blogAndPostId/blog/post/4346-375&a;brand=&a;displaychannel=opinions&q;,&q;autoPlay&q;:true},{&q;videoId&q;:&q;5712669178001&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;Why It’s Better To Borrow From—Than Bust Into—Your 401(k)&q;,&q;playerId&q;:&q;S1EBSbDn&q;,&q;keyValues&q;:&q;displaysection=&a;fl=&a;channel=opinion&a;swimlane=&a;specialslot=&a;section=opinion:law&a;regulation&a;id=blogAndPostId/blog/post/4346-375&a;brand=&a;displaychannel=opinions&q;,&q;autoPlay&q;:true},{&q;videoId&q;:&q;5700325188001&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;How To Play Retirement Catch-Up&q;,&q;playerId&q;:&q;S1EBSbDn&q;,&q;keyValues&q;:&q;displaysection=&a;fl=&a;channel=opinion&a;swimlane=&a;specialslot=&a;section=opinion:law&a;regulation&a;id=blogAndPostId/blog/post/4346-375&a;brand=&a;displaychannel=opinions&q;,&q;autoPlay&q;:true},{&q;videoId&q;:&q;5726402011001&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;Get The Most From Your Retirement Match&q;,&q;playerId&q;:&q;S1EBSbDn&q;,&q;keyValues&q;:&q;displaysection=&a;fl=&a;channel=opinion&a;swimlane=&a;specialslot=&a;section=opinion:law&a;regulation&a;id=blogAndPostId/blog/post/4346-375&a;brand=&a;displaychannel=opinions&q;,&q;autoPlay&q;:true},{&q;videoId&q;:&q;5731506251001&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;3 Ways To Save For Retirement At Tax Time&q;,&q;playerId&q;:&q;S1EBSbDn&q;,&q;keyValues&q;:&q;displaysection=&a;fl=&a;channel=opinion&a;swimlane=&a;specialslot=&a;section=opinion:law&a;regulation&a;id=blogAndPostId/blog/post/4346-375&a;brand=&a;displaychannel=opinions&q;,&q;autoPlay&q;:true},{&q;videoId&q;:&q;5686273571001&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;Consider A Charitable IRA Rollover&q;,&q;playerId&q;:&q;S1EBSbDn&q;,&q;keyValues&q;:&q;displaysection=&a;fl=&a;channel=opinion&a;swimlane=&a;specialslot=&a;section=opinion:law&a;regulation&a;id=blogAndPostId/blog/post/4346-375&a;brand=&a;displaychannel=opinions&q;,&q;autoPlay&q;:true},{&q;videoId&q;:&q;5716604773001&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;Roth IRAs For Everyone—Even The Well Paid&q;,&q;playerId&q;:&q;S1EBSbDn&q;,&q;keyValues&q;:&q;displaysection=&a;fl=&a;channel=opinion&a;swimlane=&a;specialslot=&a;section=opinion:law&a;regulation&a;id=blogAndPostId/blog/post/4346-375&a;brand=&a;displaychannel=opinions&q;,&q;autoPlay&q;:true},{&q;videoId&q;:&q;5721618441001&q;,&q;title&q;:&q;Use Your Tax Refund To Boost Your Retirement Savings&q;,&q;playerId&q;:&q;S1EBSbDn&q;,&q;keyValues&q;:&q;displaysection=&a;fl=&a;channel=opinion&a;swimlane=&a;specialslot=&a;section=opinion:law&a;regulation&a;id=blogAndPostId/blog/post/4346-375&a;brand=&a;displaychannel=opinions&q;,&q;autoPlay&q;:true}],&q;hasVideo&q;:false,&q;hasInfographic&q;:false,&q;bulletList&q;:[null,null,null],&q;trumpContent&q;:false,&q;wordCount&q;:974,&q;mobileOnly&q;:false,&q;hashtagSetting&q;:{&q;hashtag&q;:&q;Regulation&q;,&q;autoplay&q;:true,&q;specialSlot&q;:&q;retirementtips2&q;,&q;sponsored&q;:false,&q;active&q;:true},&q;fully_loaded&q;:true}},&q;adsConfig&q;:{&q;mobile&q;:false,&q;ad_unit_path&q;:&q;/7175/fdc.forbes/article-d&q;,&q;amazonSlots&q;:[{&q;slotID&q;:&q;top&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[728,90],[970,250]]},{&q;slotID&q;:&q;rec&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[300,250],[300,600]]},{&q;slotID&q;:&q;recx&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[300,250],[300,600]]},{&q;slotID&q;:&q;loge&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[300,250],[300,600]]}],&q;positions&q;:{&q;top&q;:{&q;slot_id&q;:&q;top&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[728,90],[970,250],[970,90],[970,66],[640,360],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;]},&q;rec&q;:{&q;slot_id&q;:&q;rec&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[300,250],[336,280],[300,600],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;]},&q;mobile&q;:{&q;slot_id&q;:&q;mobile&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[300,50],[320,50],[1,1]]},&q;mobilerec&q;:{&q;slot_id&q;:&q;mobilerec&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[300,250],[300,50],[320,180],[320,50],[1,1]]},&q;recx&q;:{&q;slot_id&q;:&q;recx&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[300,250],[336,280],[300,600],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;],&q;incremental&q;:true},&q;loge&q;:{&q;slot_id&q;:&q;loge&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[336,280],[300,600],[300,250],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;]},&q;mobilex&q;:{&q;slot_id&q;:&q;mobilex&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[300,250],[300,50],[320,180],[320,50],[1,1]],&q;incremental&q;:true},&q;mob-stream&q;:{&q;slot_id&q;:&q;mob-stream&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[300,250],[300,50],[320,180],[320,50],[1,1]]},&q;mob-stream2&q;:{&q;slot_id&q;:&q;mob-stream2&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[300,250],[300,50],[320,180],[320,50],[1,1]]},&q;mobiletext&q;:{&q;slot_id&q;:&q;mobiletext&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[300,250],[336,280],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;]},&q;ntv-article&q;:{&q;slot_id&q;:&q;ntv-article&q;,&q;div_id&q;:&q;brandvoice_inline&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[2,3],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;],&q;params&q;:{&q;strnativekey&q;:&q;3e7e0323&q;}},&q;ntv-belt&q;:{&q;slot_id&q;:&q;ntv-belt&q;,&q;params&q;:{&q;strnativekey&q;:&q;12653cf9&q;},&q;sizes&q;:[[2,3],[1,1]]},&q;ntv-rail&q;:{&q;sizes&q;:[[2,3],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;],&q;breaks&q;:{&q;xxlarge&q;:[[2,3],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;],&q;xlarge&q;:[[2,3],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;],&q;large&q;:[[2,3],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;],&q;medium&q;:[[2,3],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;],&q;small&q;:[[2,3],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;]},&q;slot_id&q;:&q;ntv-rail&q;,&q;params&q;:{&q;strnativekey&q;:&q;4kSaBGZvyd5bZ4yDRLQWW9u8&q;}},&q;ntv-rail-2&q;:{&q;sizes&q;:[[2,3],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;],&q;breaks&q;:{&q;xxlarge&q;:[[2,3],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;],&q;xlarge&q;:[[2,3],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;],&q;large&q;:[[2,3],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;],&q;medium&q;:[[2,3],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;],&q;small&q;:[[2,3],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;]},&q;slot_id&q;:&q;ntv-rail-2&q;,&q;params&q;:{&q;strnativekey&q;:&q;t5toAgo73taamHDf2P739tD4&q;}},&q;spon-logo&q;:{&q;slot_id&q;:&q;spon-logo&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[120,40],[300,170],[300,100],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;]},&q;mob-logo&q;:{&q;slot_id&q;:&q;mob-logo&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[300,50],[300,75],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;]},&q;inread&q;:{&q;slot_id&q;:&q;inread&q;,&q;progressive&q;:true,&q;sizes&q;:[[600,575],[528,297],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;]},&q;topx&q;:{&q;slot_id&q;:&q;topx&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[728,90],[970,250],[970,90],[970,66],[640,360],[1,1],&q;fluid&q;]},&q;artbottom&q;:{&q;slot_id&q;:&q;artbottom&q;,&q;sizes&q;:[[1,1],&q;fluid&q;]}},&q;params&q;:{&q;author&q;:&q;omribenshahar&q;,&q;bbgterm&q;:false,&q;channel&q;:[&q;opinion&q;],&q;displaychannel&q;:&q;opinions&q;,&q;displaysection&q;:&q;&q;,&q;fl&q;:null,&q;fvid&q;:&q;&q;,&q;ht&q;:&q;Regulation&q;,&q;id&q;:&q;blogAndPostId/blog/post/4346-375&q;,&q;img&q;:null,&q;login&q;:false,&q;section&q;:[&q;opinion:law&a;regulation&q;],&q;specialslot&q;:&q;&q;,&q;templatetype&q;:&q;standard&q;,&q;type&q;:&q;contributor&q;}},&q;hasLoginCookies&q;:false,&q;REQUEST_HEADERS&q;:{&q;user-agent&q;:&q;python-requests/2.10.0&q;}}</script></body></html>