Jamie Morikawa

Social inflation is a term that has been used to describe social and behavioral trends that are said to expand the liability of parties allegedly responsible for harms and their insurers. In this report, the authors look for trends in litigation rates, trial awards, and insurance claim payments that are consistent with the expected effects of social inflation to determine whether there is evidence that social inflation is occurring.

Given the closures and other restrictions on business activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, stakeholders have developed proposals for an insurance-based program to provide businesses with resources to maintain payroll and benefits and cover ongoing operating expenses. This report describes the distinguishing features of the most-visible proposals and develops a quantitative model that projects their potential consequences.