Insuring our homes used to be a given. Today, it’s increasingly a luxury that more and more can’t afford – if it’s even available at all. Climate change is wreaking havoc on the insurance industry as rising sea levels, severe weather, and other impacts threaten our biggest assets – our homes. In this episode, we asked an insurance expert, Ben Keys, will we be able to protect our homes in the near future?

Ben Keys is the Rowan Family Foundation professor of real estate and finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Keys's recent research has focused on climate risk, housing, and mortgage markets; foreign investment in the U.S. housing market; and the geography of household financial distress. His research has been published in such journals as the Quarterly Journal of Economics, American Economic Review, Econometrica, Journal of Financial Economics, and Review of Financial Studies, and has been profiled in The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.

Before joining Wharton, Keys taught at the University of Chicago and worked as a staff economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. He holds a B.A. in economics and political science from Swarthmore College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan.

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Simmer Down is hosted by Kathleen Biggins. It is produced by Hans Buetow and Rebecca Fishkin.

Creative director: Carrie Dyckman

Associate producer: Nicole Curnan

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Music: Andrew Atkin at Charts & Leisure

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For more information on this topic:

First Street climate risk data

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/07/08/climate/home-insurance-climate-change.html

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/11/19/climate/home-insurance-premiums-costs-usa.html

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/03/09/climate/home-insurance-credit-scores.html

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/a-proposal-for-a-us-federal-property-reinsurer/