Insurance news: New report about climate and challenges for insurers

A new report from the Insurance Information Institute talks about the nation's financial crisis and how it's hit insurers. It includes an excellent overview of the recession compared to how far/quick the nation's bounced back from previous downturns.

Among the points in the 110-page report: that state and local government finances are in dire straits, with "large, long-term cuts necessary to align spending with shrinking tax revenues." And study author Robert Hartwig says the issues and threats facing insurers include larger-than-usual recent losses, long-term reductions in investment earnings, and the threat of inflation eating further into those earnings.

(Here's a PowerPoint link to the same presentation.)