Dear Editor:
Do we know what is relevant without a frame of reference? In a May 3 News Tribune letter a regular writer urges us to trust in America's true religion, "mammon" or wealth. This seems natural after watching the richest man triumph in the Republican primary in a field of 17 candidates. Capitalism, we are told, will provide the answers.
The May 3 question concerns insurance and climate change. The letter alleges that investment titan Warren Buffet rejects climate change as real. Not so! Buffet and his business conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, turned down a stockholder request for Berkshire insurance companies to publish a report assessing future climate dangers to company profits. Buffet and his board rejected that proposal saying they make this assessment yearly. Most Berkshire insurance policies are written a year at a time. This is a sore point with Buffet because Berkshire did suffer Katrina losses. Berkshire had under quoted potential losses from storm damage. Policy costs have gone up substantially since then for coastal properties.
Buffet does not dismiss climate change dangers. In his 2016 stockholder's letter he explains he is not a scientist. He is uncertain as to how much action is needed. What is certain is policy costs are rising in areas considered vulnerable. Presently the number of storms has not increased greatly but the intensity of storms is rising.
Will the "miracle of the markets" solve everything? Does one size fit all? Can markets solve spiritual issues? Will markets solve racial and sexual issues in our society? In this context, can markets provide solutions to climate change? I would argue that would be true only if we invest in climate solutions. That would be alternative energies and price carbon pollution.
We are not a pure capitalist society. America is a mixed economy including socialism. Think of Medicare or Social Security, the VA system, our police and fire departments, the NFL. All operate under principals that touch on socialism. Medicare is not socialism but socialized health insurance. When capitalism melted down in 2007, it did not save itself. We socialized the recovery so capitalists could profit.
A frame of reference, a worldview, is important to most people. We do not all agree on what that should be. The right to have differing points of view for me is the definition of freedom. My view is capitalism may not save our environment. We may need more than the profit motive.