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But of course - I don't understand why people are forgetting that when companies raise prices/cut benefits, it is not because of actual losses but because they

But of course - I don't understand why people are forgetting that when companies raise prices/cut benefits, it is not because of actual losses but because they want to return more of their revenue to shareholders than to customers or employees. It is a flawed model that is sucking society dry but this is how America is set up. There are only a few ways to beat them - some of them involves lawmakers passing laws that protect people over investors. Ain't happening with the current elected officials.

yummypaint 2y ago
It's all predicated on having competition, which of course companies hate. Once a company becomes both a monopoly and "too big to fail" it isn't really a company anymore, but functionally a piece of government run by unelected profiteers. If elected officials did their jobs and maintained something resembling a free market everything would be so much better.
- nine_zeros 2y ago
  > If elected officials did their jobs and maintained something resembling a free market everything would be so much better. Not happening for the next 4 years. Absent government help, people need to take matters in their own hands. Build unions and co-ops. Customer unions, patient unions, homeowners unions - not just employer unions. Band together and buy reduced price/better termed insurance. Ultimately, shareholders must take a few years of losses - that's just business.
- redserk 2y ago
  I'm confused at the "free market" implication here. What resembles the free market has been deciding "Florida isn't worth it" and companies have been pulling out in response. I'll concede in that a few bad regulations have accelerated this trend but these regulations, even if repealed, can't change the fact that tropical weather is becoming more severe. After all, there are many other states that have a lot lower likelihood of town/city-level destruction in a year.
throwaway5752 2y ago
"It is a flawed model that is sucking society dry but this is how America is set up." This article is about a problem of how Florida, specifically, is set up. To the downvoter - perhaps you didn't read the article, don't know about Florida's P&C regulatory problems, or wanted to make another point. But from the article: "The Office of Insurance Regulation said in a statement that the study was not given to lawmakers because it was “not a formal examination report.” It was produced months before lawmakers met in emergency legislative sessions in 2022 and left in a “draft” status." Florida knew this, and was surpressing this, because the state executive branch is corrupt and in a state of regulatory capture.
- acdha 2y ago
  Yes, and that’s why it’s relevant: Florida has a major problem which can’t be solved by pretending really hard that it doesn’t exist, and the legislative climate won’t allow actual fixes. Republicans have ensured that climate change is hitting everyone as hard as possible, and blocked corporate accountability or regulation, and prevented raising taxes to have the government step in, and neither party is willing to acknowledge the negative consequences of having home equity be the primary retirement fund for most people. There’s no way to make the current model work and the alternatives are blocked.
  - throwaway5752 2y ago
    Agreed. It's trivially easy to manipulate suggestible people and say "this is why the system doesn't work" instead of really understanding something complex. The system works. It is broken in Florida, but Florida broke it and has corruptly and incompetently swept the problem under the rug for a couple of decades while luring people with unsustainably low taxes and insurance premiums. That is beginning to unravel in a way that cannot be hidden.
    - acdha 2y ago
      I don’t think we can say the system really works as much as it’s failing slower in other areas. We keep bumping into reminders that the post-WWII era was something of an anomaly rather than a steady state. Florida is a front runner because it’s both unusually highly exposed and ideologically captured but I think much of the country isn’t far behind - just basic things like roads and sewers aren’t sustainable in many areas without increased taxes, and a lot of people do not have much margin for that. An awful lot of infrastructure is around its design lifetime already and much of that will be getting hit with increased climate stress.
quickthrowman 2y ago
> But of course - I don't understand why people are forgetting that when companies raise prices/cut benefits, it is not because of actual losses but because they want to return more of their revenue to shareholders than to customers or employees. When I raise my prices (construction services), it’s due to the annual wage increase for the union labor I use to perform the work. If I arbitrarily raise my price, I will lose a competitively bid project to a hungrier competitor. I understand that not all industries are competitive, but that’s what regulations should be used for, regulating markets with a handful of players. Not all price increases are due to greed, the price of everything goes up over time due to inflation.

yummypaint 2y ago

It's all predicated on having competition, which of course companies hate. Once a company becomes both a monopoly and "too big to fail" it isn't really a company anymore, but functionally a piece of government run by unelected profiteers. If elected officials did their jobs and maintained something resembling a free market everything would be so much better.

nine_zeros 2y ago
> If elected officials did their jobs and maintained something resembling a free market everything would be so much better. Not happening for the next 4 years. Absent government help, people need to take matters in their own hands. Build unions and co-ops. Customer unions, patient unions, homeowners unions - not just employer unions. Band together and buy reduced price/better termed insurance. Ultimately, shareholders must take a few years of losses - that's just business.
redserk 2y ago
I'm confused at the "free market" implication here. What resembles the free market has been deciding "Florida isn't worth it" and companies have been pulling out in response. I'll concede in that a few bad regulations have accelerated this trend but these regulations, even if repealed, can't change the fact that tropical weather is becoming more severe. After all, there are many other states that have a lot lower likelihood of town/city-level destruction in a year.

throwaway5752 2y ago

"It is a flawed model that is sucking society dry but this is how America is set up." This article is about a problem of how Florida, specifically, is set up. To the downvoter - perhaps you didn't read the article, don't know about Florida's P&C regulatory problems, or wanted to make another point. But from the article: "The Office of Insurance Regulation said in a statement that the study was not given to lawmakers because it was “not a formal examination report.” It was produced months before lawmakers met in emergency legislative sessions in 2022 and left in a “draft” status." Florida knew this, and was surpressing this, because the state executive branch is corrupt and in a state of regulatory capture.

acdha 2y ago
Yes, and that’s why it’s relevant: Florida has a major problem which can’t be solved by pretending really hard that it doesn’t exist, and the legislative climate won’t allow actual fixes. Republicans have ensured that climate change is hitting everyone as hard as possible, and blocked corporate accountability or regulation, and prevented raising taxes to have the government step in, and neither party is willing to acknowledge the negative consequences of having home equity be the primary retirement fund for most people. There’s no way to make the current model work and the alternatives are blocked.
- throwaway5752 2y ago
  Agreed. It's trivially easy to manipulate suggestible people and say "this is why the system doesn't work" instead of really understanding something complex. The system works. It is broken in Florida, but Florida broke it and has corruptly and incompetently swept the problem under the rug for a couple of decades while luring people with unsustainably low taxes and insurance premiums. That is beginning to unravel in a way that cannot be hidden.
  - acdha 2y ago
    I don’t think we can say the system really works as much as it’s failing slower in other areas. We keep bumping into reminders that the post-WWII era was something of an anomaly rather than a steady state. Florida is a front runner because it’s both unusually highly exposed and ideologically captured but I think much of the country isn’t far behind - just basic things like roads and sewers aren’t sustainable in many areas without increased taxes, and a lot of people do not have much margin for that. An awful lot of infrastructure is around its design lifetime already and much of that will be getting hit with increased climate stress.

quickthrowman 2y ago

> But of course - I don't understand why people are forgetting that when companies raise prices/cut benefits, it is not because of actual losses but because they want to return more of their revenue to shareholders than to customers or employees. When I raise my prices (construction services), it’s due to the annual wage increase for the union labor I use to perform the work. If I arbitrarily raise my price, I will lose a competitively bid project to a hungrier competitor. I understand that not all industries are competitive, but that’s what regulations should be used for, regulating markets with a handful of players. Not all price increases are due to greed, the price of everything goes up over time due to inflation.