Economics question: Given all the wealth that just went poof, or washed into the Atlantic,

[bemildred]

is it now OK to print and distribute the equivalent amount of cash to rebuild it all?

I can't see how that would cause inflation, a long as it is used only to rebuild.

[lunatica]

1. If you pay people to rebuild it all, and hopefully more of the infrastructure

they will spend the money buying things. What do you think?

[politicaljunkie41910]

2. I've heard estimates of $40B. That will stimulate the economy.

It will also get the conversation going again on the state of our nation's infrastructure which up until now has been subjected to a bandaid approach rather than working on a cure for a 21st century economy.

[bemildred]

5. I think it will be a lot more than that.

That is some very expensive real estate, and some very expensive infrastructure, and a billion ain't what it use to be. But until they look it over, nobody is going to say, so we'll have to wait and see.

But yeah, that's the principle, the argument.

[hoosierlib]

3. Yes...it will not create inflation because your creating a demand or supply bubble

[hockeynut57]

4. insurance my friend

with the insrance co.s passing it's losses on to us in the form of higher premiums

[bemildred]

6. They will try, I have doubts they can handle it.

I remember the big quake out here in the 90s. They were in stunned disarray.

[hockeynut57]

7. and i bet premiums skyrocketed for you.

the 90's ? was that when my commercial insurance went up 200%?

[bemildred]

10. Sort of.

We have a state mandated program, which costs about the same as normal homeowners, specific to earthquakes, and leaves you on the hook for 15% or so of quake damage. And the InsCos hate even offering that.

The problems is big disasters clean them out, and they hate being cleaned out, they like the steady uinterrupted flow of the money river, with just enough going back to policyholders to look nice.

Edit: to be clear, the InsCos here refused to provide quake insurance after, and were made to offer what we have by law.

[modrepub]

8. How Smart Is It

to rebuild your house or business on islands that are destined to be hit by another storm or washed away in the next several decades due to rising sea levels from global warming? At some point the (private) insurance companies are going to walk away and we the tax payer are going to have to cover the insurance for these people.

[bemildred]

9. But you know they will. nt