This text deals with risk and its treatment. Since the last edition of Principles of Risk Management and Insurance appeared, several unprecedented events have occurred that clearly demonstrate the destructive presence of risk in our society. In 2010, one of the most devastating earthquakes in recent history struck poverty-stricken Haiti, causing enormous human suffering, an estimated 316,000 deaths, one million homeless people, and widespread property destruction. In 2011, a deadly earthquake hit Japan that caused a devastating tsunami and a nuclear accident crisis. More than 18,000 people died, thousands more are missing, and estimated property damage may exceed $300 billion. During the same period, the Obama Administration introduced legislation to reform a broken health-care delivery system. Despite formidable opposition by the Republicans, and heated and bitter debate, Congress enacted the Affordable Care Act in March 2010. The new law extends health insurance coverage to millions of uninsured people, provides subsidies to purchase insurance, and prohibits certain abusive practices by insurers.

本文论述了风险及其处理。自上一版《风险管理与保险原则》问世以来，发生了几起前所未有的事件，清楚地表明了风险在我们社会中的破坏性存在。2010年，最近历史上最具破坏性的一次地震袭击了贫困的海地，造成了巨大的人类痛苦，估计有31.6万人死亡，100万人无家可归，以及广泛的财产损失。2011年，日本发生致命地震，引发毁灭性海啸和核事故危机。超过18000人死亡，数千人失踪，估计财产损失可能超过3000亿美元。在同一时期，奥巴马政府提出了改革一个破碎的医疗保健系统的立法。尽管共和党人的强烈反对和激烈的辩论，国会还是在2010年3月颁布了《平价医疗法案》。新法律将医疗保险覆盖范围扩大到数百万未参保的人，为购买保险提供补贴，并禁止保险公司的某些滥用行为。