Economic Impacts of Climate Change
The U.S. economy faces systemic risks from climate change. Susan Crawford and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) reveal how insurance, mortgages, and municipal bonds are under threat—and what must change.
The U.S. economy faces systemic risks from climate change. Susan Crawford and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) reveal how insurance, mortgages, and municipal bonds are under threat—and what must change.
In this interview, Susan Crawford, senior fellow in the Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace speaks with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) on the looming economic shocks of climate change. Our current legal and financial systems are built on the assumption of stationarity but as we exit a stable climate, we need to prepare for a world of constant change. Senator Whitehouse, in his role as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, has been active in exposing the systemic risks to the US economy triggered by the physical effects of climate change. In this conversation, Susan Crawford and Senator Whitehouse discuss insurance market destabilization and the compounding effects on the mortgage market, impending risk to the municipal bond markets, as well as the legislative reforms necessary for the future.