Book Description
Although students of finance have long examined ways in which private parties manage risk, risk management by government has received surprisingly little attention over the years. Those scholars who have addressed the subject of public risk management have tended to focus mainly on government risk bearing - that is, policies such as deposit insurance that shift private risks onto the government's own shoulders. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that public risk management represents an essential function of government and one that extends far beyond mere risk bearing by the government itself. The first section defines the boundaries of public risk management and explores justifications for this governmental function from a theoretical perspective. The second section surveys the history of risk-management policy in the United States and organizes it into three broad phases: security for business (to 1900), security for workers (1900-1960), and security for all citizens (since 1960). Finally, the third section suggests a range of possible strategies for future research on public risk management.
