Feets, Don't Fail Me Now - part the first

The age old phrase, "vote with your feet". In its usual manner, the NYT displays its sense of humour with two overlapping reports on various folks voting with their feet in response to afront.

First, we see that the tony coasts are rewarded by the 'free market' in homeowner's insurance. Of course, the nasty states that allow the insurance companies free rein deny what's going on. But, that's just gaslighting. The econ types call this activity 'market segmentation' and 'capturing consumer surplus'. By not leveling the playing field nationally, the Big Five hold 47.5% of nationwide market. That's a whole lotta control. If CA is a loss, than OK (and such 'business friendly' states) will make up the difference. Of course state regulators as in OK deny the plot. So do the companies. Do they all think we don't have eyes? I guess so.

To put it bluntly - given that 'regulation' (if the exercise barely rises to that name) is controlled at the state level, jurisdictions like OK can just ignore the issue:

Mr. Mulready defended his approach, saying it's not his role to stop private insurance companies from raising rates in Oklahoma.

"We allow the competitive free market to work," he said in an interview.

Except, of course, dey ain't no such a ting as a free market. OK is one state without a risk-pool, state run alternative, and the data show that states with such pools have lower commercial rates.

"I personally think we're in a lot of trouble," Dr. Keys said. "This should be ringing alarm bells for housing markets all over the country."

The result of all this is that people are moving to smaller, cheaper housing. Or out of a state all-together.

Megann Johnson is an insurance agent in Enid whose own home insurance premiums almost doubled, to $4,860 this year from $2,570 in 2021. She says her aunts, who sell insurance in nearby Kansas, tease her about what they call Oklahoma's "stupid"€high rates. "Our risk is the same, right?" Ms. Johnson said. "We're 50 miles from the state line."

Next, we find that the LGBTQ community has taken to moving due to blatant discrimination. Unlike the insurance distortion, which is more or less universally discriminatory, this community is targeted. While I've no specific data, my guess is that the community is made of higher than average humans. Just my feeling. Alan Turing being the archetype. For so many reasons, the smart people have always, and will always, migrate to the Blue States. Fuck the red states.

There is a dark side to this voting with your feet: because the Constitution built in a minority centric governance, the likelihood of a minority autocracy increases, since the flyover shitkicker states will continue to have unfair advantage in the Senate and Electoral College. In due time, if we all live that long, the USofA under such wonderful ministrations will collapse into anarchy, from which we may hope the cream of smart people will rise to the top and crush the MAGAmorons (or whatever label they've moved to).