When hurricanes strike Florida, insurance companies adapt and rebuild-but when politicians change the rules without warning, capital flees and doesn't return. Drawing on his unique perspective as both an insurance agent and one of only two legislators who voted against Florida's disastrous 2007 insurance reforms, Don D. Brown reveals the hidden force destroying coastal insurance markets: policy uncertainty, not natural disasters. Through accessible metaphors and real-world data, this book demonstrates how retroactive rule changes, extended deadlines, and political interventions create an "ambiguity load" that doubles premiums and drives insurers away. Brown traces the problem from ancient Babylonian risk-sharing through modern catastrophe bonds, showing how markets successfully price hundred-billion-dollar storms but cannot price political chaos. The book presents concrete solutions drawn from successful programs worldwide-from Japan's earthquake insurance to the UK's Flood Re-that prove stability is achievable even in disaster-prone regions. Using the Risk-Uncertainty Spectrum as a framework, readers learn to evaluate whether policies move markets toward manageable risk or destructive uncertainty. Brown argues that Florida doesn't need gentler weather or government subsidies; it needs predictable rules, honest pricing, and investment in pre-storm mitigation.

The Capital Drain offers policymakers a detailed roadmap and homeowners an explanation for their soaring premiums, while providing investors the framework to understand when to commit capital and when to withdraw.