The field of disaster law has witnessed a huge surge in interest over the past few years. The editors have brought together seminal papers analysing how disasters, both natural and man-made, could be prevented and investigating the ways in which compensation for such events could be provided.

Contents: Acknowledgements Introduction Daniel A. Farber and Michael Faure PART I DISASTER PREVENTION AND MITIGATION 1. Matthew D. Adler (2006), ‘Policy Analysis for Natural Hazards: Some Cautionary Lessons from Environmental Policy Analysis’ 2. David Crichton (2007), ‘What Can Cities do to Increase Resilience?’ 3. Oliver Houck (2006), ‘Can We Save New Orleans?’ 4. John R. Nolon (2007), ‘Disaster Mitigation Through Land Use Strategies’ 5. Cass R. Sunstein (2007), ‘The Catastrophic Harm Precautionary Principle’, Issues in Legal Scholarship. Symposium: Catastrophic Risks: Prevention, Compensation, and Recovery’ PART II DISASTER RESPONSE 6. Denis Binder (2002), ‘Emergency Action Plans: A Legal and Practical Blueprint “Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail”’ 7. William Banks (2006–2007), ‘Who’s in Charge: The Role of the Military in Disaster Response’ 8. Ben Depoorter (2006), ‘Horizontal Political Externalities: The Supply and Demand of Disaster Management’ 9. Saul Levmore (1996), ‘Coalitions and Quakes: Disaster Relief and its Prevention’ 10. Caroyln Kousky, Sam Walsh and Richard Zeckhauser (2007), ‘Options Contracts for Contingent Takings’ 11. Christina E. Wells (2006–2007), ‘Katrina and the Rhetoric of Federalism’ PART III INSURANCE 12. George L. Priest (1996), ‘The Government, the Market, and the Problem of Catastrophic Loss’ 13. Howard Kunreuther (1996), ‘Mitigating Disaster Losses through Insurance’ 14. Christian Gollier (2005), ‘Some Aspects of the Economics of Catastrophe Risk Insurance’ 15. Howard Kunreuther (1968), ‘The Case for Comprehensive Disaster Insurance’ 16. Winston Harrington (1988), ‘Enforcement Leverage when Penalties are Restricted’ 17. Reimund Schwarze and Gert G. Wagner (2004), ‘In the Aftermath of Dresden: New Directions in German Flood Insurance’ 18. Olivier Moréteau (2007), ‘Policing the Compensation of Victims of Catastrophes: Combining Solidarity and Self-Responsibility’ 19. Roger Van den Bergh and Michael Faure (2006), ‘Compulsory Insurance of Loss to Property Caused by Natural Disasters: Competition or Solidarity?’ PART IV GOVERNMENT-PROVIDED COMPENSATION 20. Stephen D. Sugarman (2007), ‘Roles of Government in Compensating Disaster Victims’ 21. Howard Kunreuther, Neil Doherty and Anne Kleffner (1992), ‘Should Society Deal with the Earthquake Problem?’ 22. Louis Kaplow (1991), ‘Incentives and Government Relief for Risk’ 23. Richard A. Epstein (1996), ‘Catastrophic Responses to Catastrophic Risks’ 24. Anne Gron and Alan O. Sykes (2002-2003), ‘A Role for Government?’ 25. Michael G. Faure (2007), ‘Financial Compensation for Victims of Catastrophes: A Law and Economics Perspective’ 26. Daniel A. Farber (2007), ‘Adapting to Climate Change: Who Should Pay’ 27. Thomas A. Garrett, Thomas L. Marsh and Maria I. Marshall (2006), ‘Political Allocation of US Agriculture Disaster Payments in the 1990s’ Name Index

‘Disaster Law is a compilation of seminal articles that explore the economic and policy issues that must be addressed by the law and by lawmakers grappling with the problem of disasters. . . This book provides a collection of some of the most noteworthy contributions to this field. The editors, Dan Farber and Michael Faure, seek to help us think more about what the law should be than about what it actually is. . . The pressure for reform of disaster law is growing. . . We can only hope that the policy debate to come will be informed by the understanding provided by reference works such as disaster law.’