Foreword 2 Introduction 4 Risk tradition and risk trading 6 From conjecture to calculation 8 The birth of modern insurance 10 Global expansion 16 Reinsurance 24 San Francisco 26 Swiss Re History 30 Money matters 38 World War II 44 Booming economy and growing problems 46 More money matters 50 A poor start for the 21st century 54 Natural catastrophes 56 Financial catastrophes, regulation, and a positive outlook 60

The domestication of different grasses, all members of the monocotyledonous family Gramineae, was a seminal event in the history of mankind. The cultiva￾tion of these plants led to the generation of agricultural surpluses. These in turn enabled societies in different parts of the world to make the transition from a nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle to one based on communities living in per￾manent settlements

The Uses of History in Law and economics Ron harris During the last quarter of the twentieth century, the humanities and social sciences have turned toward history something that culminated in the 1990s, and this phenomenon was evident in law as well. However until recently law and economics, the most infuential post-World War