United States | The Florida model

Florida’s government subsidises people living in hurricane zones

This props up the property market, which state revenue relies on

FORT MYERS BEACH, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 04: Members of Virginia Task Force 2 Urban Search and Rescue comb through the wreckage on Fort Myers Beach looking for victims of Hurricane Ian October 04, 2022 in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. Southwest Florida suffered severe damage during the Category 4 hurricane which caused extensive damage to communities along the state's coast. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***
|FORT MYERS, FLORIDA

After the storm come the loss “adjusters”. With clipboard and camera they tot up the damage from leaky ceilings and waterlogged floors. Blake Day, an adjuster who represents homeowners in dealings with insurers throughout south-west Florida, tells his bewildered clients two things. Photograph everything. And file your claim fast to get paid quickly, for some insurers will soon be bankrupt.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “The Florida model”

What next? A special report on the world economy

From the October 8th 2022 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from United States

Inauguration Ceremony Rehearsal Takes Place In Nation's Capital, Washington DC, USA.

The beginning of the end of the Trump era

The new president is more confident, and radical, than ever—and also more accepted

 Pam Bondi is sworn in as she prepares to testify during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to examine her expected nomination to be Attorney General, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC.

Pam Bondi seems like a relatively safe pair of hands

But is America’s next attorney-general an independent operator?


US President Joe Biden delivers his farewell address to the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA.

Checks and Balance newsletter: Joe Biden’s farewell shot at the oligarchy

The outgoing president warns of a new “tech-industrial complex”


A protest against America’s TikTok ban is mired in contradiction

Another Chinese app is not the alternative some young Americans think it is

Joe Biden wound up serving Donald Trump

In some ways, his administration will look less like an interregnum than like MAGA-lite

How bad will the smoke be for Angelenos’ health?

Expect more sickness and disrupted schooling