Terrorism

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, with estimated insured losses of $32.5 billion, insurers largely withdrew from the terrorism risk insurance market. Terrorism had then become a major risk for the financial markets. In response, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 required the President's Working Group on Financial Markets to analyze the long-term availability of terrorism risk insurance.

Several reports have been released since, with the current report Terrorism: Long-Term Availability and Affordability of Insurance for Terrorism Risk submitted to Congress in 2014. Among its findings is that the capacity of insurers for terrorism risk after initial growth from 2003 on has stabilized since 2010; that pricing of terrorism insurance has declined since 2005; and that the percentage of companies purchasing terrorism coverage has increased from 27 percent in 2003 to 60 percent in 2014.

Students of financial history, journalists, politicians, and anyone interested in the workings of financial markets and the Plunge Protection Team, will find this vital background reading.