<nettime> BOUNCE nettime-l@basis.desk.nl: Approval required: (fwd)

[nettime maillist <nettime@Desk.nl>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Approved: 30rOsen
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998 22:49:02 +0100
From: Bureau of Control <carlg@pop.net>
To: nettime-l@Desk.nl
Subject: Re: <nettime> Betting on Death

Felix Stalder wrote:

> Your Death is my Business. However, there is ample room for market
> development. Thanks to a shifting
> focus on cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ("Lou Gehrig's Disease"),
> cardiovascular illness and the like.  William Keller, Executive Director
> for the Viatical Association of America, expects the industry to "grow
> substantially." But only if you die, the sooner the better.
> There is no end to weirdness or capitalism.

But it doesn't stop there. According to an article in the latest issue of
U.S. magazine Mother Jones, there's a new marketable security called a
"catastrophe bond." A "cat bond's" yield is supposed to represent a bet
that hurricanes, earthquakes, etc. (big meteorites? rampaging dinosaurs?
Y2K?) either will or will not wipe out insurance companies. In realty, the
rates are arbitrary since no one's really figured out the risks, much less
the extent, of catastrophic damage. The idea is to buy cat bonds and hold
them as long as you dare, in exchange for higher yields than you would
otherwise get. The article makes the point that we really should be
preparing for disasters, not just betting on them. 

--
The Bureau of Control - An official sponsor of the Millennium Bug!
http://www.vermilion-sands.com

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