Cybersecurity, Credit Cards and Hurricane Insurance

President Obama is expected to announce the appointment of a new cybersecurity czar.

Credit card holders prepare for the changes recently passed by Congress.

Congress considers legislation to establish a national “catastrophe” fund to back up Florida’s hurricane insurance program.

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1. TECHNOLOGY 

President Obama is expected to announce the appointment of a new cybersecurity czar.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on why the authority of a cybersecurity chief should be limited

“Such a role could make sense if it were limited to ‘bringing government into the 21st century.’ But given the constant temptation for meddling in technology policy by politicians from both parties, a ‘czar’ can easily become a leader in the drive to regulate someone, somewhere, rather than simply tend to government modernization.”

 

2. BUSINESS

Credit card holders prepare for the changes recently passed by Congress.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of the Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs John Berlau on who will be affected by the new practices:

“As the cliché goes, the piper must be paid. And when the government decides that some folks are paying the piper too much, others will likely have to pony up more. This is what will likely be the aftereffects of the ‘Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights’ that President Obama will likely sign this week and similar pieces of legislation being proposed. The reason? The measures are not so much focused on improved disclosure, which would benefit all consumers, as they are with subsidizing one group of credit card users at the expense of another.”

 

3. INSURANCE

Congress considers legislation to establish a national “catastrophe” fund to back up Florida’s hurricane insurance program.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Florida Office Director Christian Cámara responds to calls for a national insurance fund:

“James Lee Witt and James Loy are, quite simply, wrong to suggest that a ‘national catastrophe backstop’ would help reduce homeowners’ insurance rates for Floridians. In fact, as Florida’s own experience with the Hurricane Catastrophe Fund has shown, such arrangements just don’t work. The Legislature has already voted to scale back the Cat Fund because it has no chance of paying out its liabilities. The reason is simple: Private reinsurance markets spread risk all over the world, while government-run backstops, even national backstops, concentrate risk in the same place. This violates sound insurance practice. To break even, such backstops have to charge more than the private sector.”

 

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