What's Insurance to a Modern Economy?

Insuring risks in a modern economy is a multi-dimensional undertaking. It is a complex business that interacts with many aspects of our lives. The importance of the insurance industry for an economy can only in part be measured by the sheer size of its business, the number of its employees in a given country, the assets under management, or its contribution to the national GDP. It actually plays a more fundamental role in the workings of a modern society, being a necessary precondition for many activities that would not take place were it not for insurance. Insurance is a key component of economic development and this article is concerned with the contributions that insurance makes to the development of a modern economy.