California Blame Game (Lefties can't do basic Econ)

Hey everyone, I've seen a lot of reactionary posts all over Reddit today blaming everything and everyone imaginable for these fires. But I'd like highlight some contributing factors that are getting lost in the noise.

It's a combination of:
- Climate - this really was a seminal weather event. A bunch of factors all lined up to make for some the most hazardous fire conditions SoCal has ever seen. However, this wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for ->

- Poor Urban Planning - Back in the early through mid 1900s, LA grew very quickly. People built houses in places that they probably shouldn't have. These developments persisted, and no one was allowed to reevaluate insurance costs because of ->

- Government Incompetence/Corruption - In 1988, voters in California passed Prop 103, which created a host of regulations around how private insurance companies evaluate, and raise rates on consumers. This one bill is responsible for so much damage, it's hard to quantify the impact. Essentially, by preventing insurers from accurately pricing and modelling the true cost of insuring these homes, the CA State Government subsidised developments in high wealth high risk neighbourhoods like the Palisades. Last year, the last insurer (State Farm) pulled out of the area, because the government wouldn't let them charge anywhere close to a reasonable rate.

What makes this even more infuriating, is that WE ALL KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN! The State Insurance Agency is run by an elected official with zero insurance experience (his degree is in Journalism). "Last year, State Farm canceled 1,600 policies in Pacific Palisades because the state would not allow them to raise premiums enough to cover their exposure. The affected homeowners would then likely have to rely on the state-run FAIR Plan, an expensive last-resort insurance program. But the FAIR Plan reportedly only had a surplus of $200 million as of April 2024 and was likely to become insolvent if a catastrophic event occurred." Insurance watchdogs were screaming from the rooftops in April of this year, warning about this exact situation.

Progressives love to pretend like economics and incentives don't matter. But when you subsidise extremely risky behaviour (like building your mansion on top of Wildfire Mountain on McBurnville Ln) and refuse to let the market price insurance costs correctly, this is the mess you get.