Finance & economics | Buttonwood

Why catastrophe bonds are failing to cover disaster damage 

The innovative form of insurance is reaching its limits

A bond staked at the top of a dead tree on fire.
Illustration: Satoshi Kambayashi

THE SCENES of devastation in Los Angeles were just the latest in a recent barrage. Last year hurricanes in the Atlantic, earthquakes in Japan and flooding in Europe all carried huge financial and human costs. Indeed, 2024 is set to be the year with the third-biggest insured losses, adjusted for inflation, in more than four decades.

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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Not just Los Angeles”

From the January 18th 2025 edition

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