Catastrophic Risk

Author : Nick Bostrom
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199606501
Total Pages : 577 pages
Book Rating : 4.04/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Global Catastrophic Risks written by Nick Bostrom and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011-09-29 with total page 577 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Global Catastrophic Risk is one that has the potential to inflict serious damage to human well-being on a global scale. This book focuses on such risks arising from natural catastrophes (Earth-based or beyond), nuclear war, terrorism, biological weapons, totalitarianism, advanced nanotechnology, artificial intelligence and social collapse.

Author : Howard Kunreuther
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190499400
Total Pages : 249 pages
Book Rating : 4.02/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Mastering Catastrophic Risk written by Howard Kunreuther and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Risk taking is inherent in competition and managing risk well is a mark of successful firms. Doing so is increasingly challenging given the pace of change, whether financial, technological, environmental, reputational, or political. Rethinking Catastrophic Risk draws on extensive interviewswith risk managers to provide real-world insights and a framework for smart thinking and planning for possible disruptions, adverse events, or crises that could seriously harm the normal business functions or operations of a firm.Corporate leaders face a series of ever-more-challenging decisions to avoid and respond to perils that can be caused by external forces or by harmful actions within the firm. The business world is growing ever riskier given rapid changes generated by increasing concentration of populations andassets, complex interdependencies of markets and supply-chains, pressures of short-term demands for results, and the pressures of transparency combined with the prominence of social media. Some shocks can be anticipated, but many others come as a surprise and create considerable stress on decisionmakers, often leading to even worse outcomes.As leading authorities on risk management, decision processes, and leadership, Howard Kunreuther, Erwann Michel-Kerjan, and Michael Useem draw on their extensive experience to enhance understanding of risk management and call for improving resilience to future shocks as an integral part of corporatestrategy. This book is chock-full of anecdotes based on extensive interviews with leaders from all sectors of the Fortune 500 and provides a framework for linking intuitive and deliberative thinking for managing low-probability, high-consequence events. It highlights the importance of institutionalarrangements and leadership capability and will benefit managers at all levels and especially executives and directors seeking to reposition their firms to better anticipate and manage adverse events.

Author : Richard A. Posner
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780195346398
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.94/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Catastrophe written by Richard A. Posner and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2004-11-11 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Catastrophic risks are much greater than is commonly appreciated. Collision with an asteroid, runaway global warming, voraciously replicating nanomachines, a pandemic of gene-spliced smallpox launched by bioterrorists, and a world-ending accident in a high-energy particle accelerator, are among the possible extinction events that are sufficiently likely to warrant careful study. How should we respond to events that, for a variety of psychological and cultural reasons, we find it hard to wrap our minds around? Posner argues that realism about science and scientists, innovative applications of cost-benefit analysis, a scientifically literate legal profession, unprecedented international cooperation, and a pragmatic attitude toward civil liberties are among the keys to coping effectively with the catastrophic risks.

Author : Kirsten Mitchell-Wallace
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1118906071
Total Pages : 536 pages
Book Rating : 4.71/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Natural Catastrophe Risk Management and Modelling written by Kirsten Mitchell-Wallace and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2017-04-24 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book covers both the practical and theoretical aspects of catastrophe modelling for insurance industry practitioners and public policymakers. Written by authors with both academic and industry experience it also functions as an excellent graduate-level text and overview of the field. Ours is a time of unprecedented levels of risk from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Fortunately, it is also an era of relatively inexpensive technologies for use in assessing those risks. The demand from both commercial and public interests—including (re)insurers, NGOs, global disaster management agencies, and local authorities—for sophisticated catastrophe risk assessment tools has never been greater, and contemporary catastrophe modelling satisfies that demand. Combining the latest research with detailed coverage of state-of-the-art catastrophe modelling techniques and technologies, this book delivers the knowledge needed to use, interpret, and build catastrophe models, and provides greater insight into catastrophe modelling’s enormous potential and possible limitations. The first book containing the detailed, practical knowledge needed to support practitioners as effective catastrophe risk modellers and managers Includes hazard, vulnerability and financial material to provide the only independent, comprehensive overview of the subject, accessible to students and practitioners alike Demonstrates the relevance of catastrophe models within a practical, decision-making framework and illustrates their many applications Includes contributions from many of the top names in the field, globally, from industry, academia, and government Natural Catastrophe Risk Management and Modelling: A Practitioner’s Guide is an important working resource for catastrophe modelling analysts and developers, actuaries, underwriters, and those working in compliance or regulatory functions related to catastrophe risk. It is also valuable for scientists and engineers seeking to gain greater insight into catastrophe risk management and its applications.

Author : Patricia Grossi
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 0387231293
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.97/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Catastrophe Modeling written by Patricia Grossi and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-01-27 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on the research that has been conducted at Wharton Risk Management Center over the past five years on catastrophic risk. Covers a hot topic in the light of recent terroristic activities and nature catastrophes. Develops risk management strategies for reducing and spreading the losses from future disasters. Provides glossary of definitions and terms used throughout the book.

Author : J. David Cummins
Publisher : World Bank Publications
ISBN 13 : 0821377361
Total Pages : 299 pages
Book Rating : 4.69/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Catastrophe Risk Financing in Developing Countries written by J. David Cummins and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2009 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Catastrophe Risk Financing in Developing Countries' provides a detailed analysis of the imperfections and inefficiencies that impede the emergence of competitive catastrophe risk markets in developing countries. The book demonstrates how donors and international financial institutions can assist governments in middle- and low-income countries in promoting effective and affordable catastrophe risk financing solutions. The authors present guiding principles on how and when governments, with assistance from donors and international financial institutions, should intervene in catastrophe insurance markets. They also identify key activities to be undertaken by donors and institutions that would allow middle- and low-income countries to develop competitive and cost-effective catastrophe risk financing strategies at both the macro (government) and micro (household) levels. These principles and activities are expected to inform good practices and ensure desirable results in catastrophe insurance projects. 'Catastrophe Risk Financing in Developing Countries' offers valuable advice and guidelines to policy makers and insurance practitioners involved in the development of catastrophe insurance programs in developing countries.

Author : Richard L. Alfred
Publisher : CRC Press
ISBN 13 : 1000434672
Total Pages : 267 pages
Book Rating : 4.75/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Catastrophic Risk written by Richard L. Alfred and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2021-10-06 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagine that you are a corporate executive or small business owner in a midwestern city under water after weeks of extreme weather and drenching rainfall. Infrastructure has been damaged beyond repair, transportation arteries are closed, and your supply chain is broken. Families have been driven from homes, food and water are in short supply, and people are becoming unruly. Government agencies are not in a position to help. Declining revenue and partisan antipathy fueled by ideological differences have eroded confidence in government. The city is in total disrepair and unable to deliver desperately needed services. It is edging toward implosion and community leaders have turned to you for help. Catastrophe that would have been unthinkable in earlier times is a reality in a world coming out of pandemic and facing existential threats such as climate change, inequality and global conflict. Catastrophic Risk: Business Strategy for Managing Turbulence in a World at Risk challenges business to step up and assume a pivotal role with communities under stress due to prolonged exposure to risk. When powerful societal forces meet behavior that deters response to risk, the consequences of risk are exacerbated. The compounding effect of behavior on risk has opened an important role for business in mobilizing people and communities in times of crisis. It is a role that cannot be fulfilled, however, without purpose, strategy and plans sufficiently robust to overcome the threat of risk. To prosper in this environment, business will need to make a significant contribution to society as well as to deliver financial performance. For companies, this will mean involvement in community in ways that significantly depart from current practice. For leaders, it will mean new skills—contextual sensitivity, a greater understanding of behavioral dynamics, and enhanced capacity to relate to people on an emotive basis. This book is about the relationship between risk, societal forces and human behavior—a relationship informed by the sciences that is critically important for business. Its goal is two-fold: to bring catastrophic risk to the world of business and to further business engagement in service to the common good.

Author : B. John Garrick
Publisher : Academic Press
ISBN 13 : 9780080923451
Total Pages : 376 pages
Book Rating : 4.53/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Quantifying and Controlling Catastrophic Risks written by B. John Garrick and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2008-10-27 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The perception, assessment and management of risk are increasingly important core principles for determining the development of both policy and strategic responses to civil and environmental catastrophes. Whereas these principles were once confined to some areas of activity i.e. financial and insurance, they are now widely used in civil and environmental engineering. Comprehensive and readable, Civil and Environmental Risk: Mitigation and Control, provides readers with the mathematical tools and quantitative methods for determining the probability of a catastrophic event and mitigating and controlling the aftermath. With this book engineers develop the required skills for accurately assessing risk and formulating appropriate response strategies. The two part treatment starts with a clear and rigorous exposition of the quantitative risk assessment process, followed by self-contained chapters concerning applications. One of the first books to address both natural and human generated disasters, topics include events such as pandemic diseases, climate changes, major hurricanes, super earthquakes, mega tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, industrial accidents and terrorist attacks. Case studies appear at the end of the book allowing engineers to see how these principles are applied to scenarios such as a super hurricane or mega tsunamis, a reactor core melt down in a nuclear plant, a terrorist attack on the national electric grid, and an abrupt climate change brought about by a change in the ocean currents in the North Atlantic. Written by the current Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, Environmental risk managers will find this reference a valuable and authoritative guide both in accurately calculating risk and its applications in their work. Key Features Mathematical tools for calculating and Controlling Catastrophic Risk Presents a systematic method for ranking the importance of societal threats Includes both Natural and Industrial Catastrophes Case studies cover such events as pandemic diseases, climate changes, major hurricanes, super earthquakes, mega tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, industrial accidents, and terrorist attacks.

Author : Robert Muir-Wood
Publisher : Basic Books
ISBN 13 : 0465096476
Total Pages : 368 pages
Book Rating : 4.73/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Cure for Catastrophe written by Robert Muir-Wood and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2016-09-06 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We can't stop natural disasters but we can stop them being disastrous. One of the world's foremost risk experts tells us how. Year after year, floods wreck people's homes and livelihoods, earthquakes tear communities apart, and tornadoes uproot whole towns. Natural disasters cause destruction and despair. But does it have to be this way? In The Cure for Catastrophe, global risk expert Robert Muir-Wood argues that our natural disasters are in fact human ones: We build in the wrong places and in the wrong way, putting brick buildings in earthquake country, timber ones in fire zones, and coastal cities in the paths of hurricanes. We then blindly trust our flood walls and disaster preparations, and when they fail, catastrophes become even more deadly. No society is immune to the twin dangers of complacency and heedless development. Recognizing how disasters are manufactured gives us the power to act. From the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 to Hurricane Katrina, The Cure for Catastrophe recounts the ingenious ways in which people have fought back against disaster. Muir-Wood shows the power and promise of new predictive technologies, and envisions a future where information and action come together to end the pain and destruction wrought by natural catastrophes. The decisions we make now can save millions of lives in the future. Buzzing with political plots, newfound technologies, and stories of surprising resilience, The Cure for Catastrophe will revolutionize the way we conceive of catastrophes: though natural disasters are inevitable, the death and destruction are optional. As we brace ourselves for deadlier cataclysms, the cure for catastrophe is in our hands.

Author : Howard Kunreuther
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190499427
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.26/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Mastering Catastrophic Risk written by Howard Kunreuther and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-05-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A profound and insightful look at how company leaders prepare for and respond to shocks and crises that threaten their business. Successful firms strategically manage and are more accurate in their assessment of large-scale risks. Doing so is increasingly challenging given the pace of change, whether financial, technological, regulatory, or environmental. Mastering Catastrophic Risk provides real-world practical insights into how large companies are responding to this new reality and develops a framework for smarter thinking about events that can damage a business. As leading authorities on risk management, strategy, and company leadership, Howard Kunreuther and Michael Useem take us on a groundbreaking tour of firms' decision making process. They demonstrate how improving readiness for and resilience against future shocks is now an integral part of company strategy. Using the "DISRUPT" model they have developed, they highlight the seven primary Drivers of disruption: Interdependencies increase exposure; Short-term focus results in limited vision; Regulations require change and constrain opportunities; Urbanization increases the costs of disasters; Probabilities of disasters have increased; and Transparency has enhanced public awareness of problems and impacts on firms' reputations. Some disruptions can be anticipated, while others arrive without warning. Their onset stresses decision makers, impairs company operations, and may even put the enterprise at risk. The bottom-line: business leaders and their governing boards face ever more challenging disruptions and must be ever more on guard. If your company is hit tomorrow, will it bounce back, or drown?