Acts of God and Man: Ruminations on Risk and Insurance

Michael Powers

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December, 2011
Cloth, 304 pages, 33 line drawings, 22 tables
ISBN: 978-0-231-15366-9
$49.95 / £34.95

"An interesting and educational look at risk and insurance, and Powers’s provocative findings provide an idiosyncratic, compelling perspective worth reading." — James K. Hammitt, Harvard University and Toulouse School of Economics, and coeditor of The Reality of Precaution: Comparing Risk Regulation in the Unites States and Europe

"Powers has a unique talent for explaining complex matters in a simple way, and his book lays out the fundamental insurance and risk concepts that are essential for success in today’s chaotic environment. Even better, Acts of God and Man is enjoyable and a fun read—rare qualities in risk and insurance literature." — Denis Kessler, Chairman and CEO, SCOR Group

"It is a pleasure to write a foreword for this book of both scholarship and humor. It factors in the various concepts of risk, but provides both theory and practical guidance on those ‘aloof risks’ suitable for insurance. Michael R. Powers manages to create a text for students of insurance while raising the deep philosophical problems in the formulation and application of probability theory." — From the Foreword by Martin Shubik, professor emeritus, Yale University, and author of The Theory of Money and Financial Institutions

"Powers entices readers with an entertaining and engaging narrative, and writes with such clarity and skill that readers almost won’t notice the strides he makes in complex issues and dense concepts. Particularly given all the turgid materials on risk and insurance, Acts of God and Man is a breath of fresh air and an impressive achievement." — Michael Morrissey, president and CEO, International Insurance Society

"Wonderful, witty, and full of insight, Acts of God and Man provides a distinctive, highly readable, and uniquely sardonic perspective on risk, insurance, and the world around us—not to mention our confusing place in it. Powers has produced a real masterpiece." — Kevin Dowd, Pensions Institute, Cass Business School, and coauthor of Alchemists of Loss: How Modern Finance and Government Intervention Crashed the Financial System

Related Subjects

• Business

Series

• Columbia Business School Publishing

About the Author

Michael R. Powers is professor of risk management and insurance at Temple University's Fox School of Business and distinguished visiting professor of finance at Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management. He serves as chief editor of the Journal of Risk Finance and the Asia-Pacific Journal of Risk and Insurance, and has coedited two books: Global Risk Management: Financial, Operational, and Insurance Strategies and The Economics and Politics of Choice No-Fault Insurance. Previously, Powers was appointed deputy insurance commissioner for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and served as member of the Pennsylvania Health-Care Cost Containment Council during its formative years. He has consulted on a variety of regulatory and tax concerns for clients in both the public and private sectors.

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