

Hobbit Risks:"The Hobbit" from an Insurance Point of View - infinity
https://www.allianz.com/en/press/news/studies/news_2013-08-16.html

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infinity
And here is a link to the second part:

An Ork fortress for over 320 million euros: A virtual claims report for the
Film “The Hobbit”. Part II – property damage:

[https://www.allianz.com/en/press/news/studies/news_2013-08-2...](https://www.allianz.com/en/press/news/studies/news_2013-08-22.html)

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ajb
See also the macroeconomics of middle-earth:
[http://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2012...](http://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2012/12/the-
macroeco.html)

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_mulder_
>The result was an immediate increase in the money supply, and a rapid growth
in overall economic activity.

Wouldn't a massive increase in money supply of the amount Smaug guarded just
lead to Hyper Inflation?

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ctdonath
No, because the "money" involved is real goods with intrinsic value, not to be
confused with "fiat money" where currency units have value unilaterally
declared and have no market value on their own. Sure, unleashing all that gold
etc. would have a massive economic impact (as the annual GDP jumps several
times over), but not hyperinflation.

AFAIK, hyperinflation amounts to cutting a pizza into thinner slices to feed a
large number of people: the total "value" of the pizza being inadequate to
satisfy the group's hunger, cutting enough slices by cutting them thin renders
each slice unsatisfying, and addressing subsequent demands for more by cutting
existing slices thinner still just "devalues" existing slices while giving a
brief (and absurd) stance of "I gave you however many slices you wanted - be
satiated!" Fiat currency just represents the total value of the culture
holding it, with N currency units each representing 1/Nth of total value;
hyperinflation occurs when the government owes debt D > 1 and tries to make
N*(1/N) > D by increasing the value of N, which of course doesn't work.

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jerf
Recall that part of the economic impact would be to send the real value of
gold plummeting, significantly mitigating any "economic damage" that might
occur. Given the primitive communications available at the time, the
adventurer's best option is probably to spend as little gold as possible in
town as rapidly as possible, before the collective value of gold can catch up,
then burn metaphorical rubber for the next large town to try to beat their own
news about their stash, and repeat as long as possible.

If you price everything in terms of their gold value, the result would _look
like_ hyperinflation, but it wouldn't really be that, it's really just a one-
time event. But it would be disruptive.

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D-Coder
Isn't all this an act of war or terrorism? Every insurance policy I've seen (
<\-- weasel ) refuses to cover these.

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etfb
They better hope they're not insured with Allianz Insurance, aka Unclean Nazi
Liars, or they won't see a cent.

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sveme
Wow, a Godwin-hole-in-one.

Nice coincidence that I just today learned about a brilliant drinking game:

"Well, I've got to work tomorrow, which means that unfortunately I can't use
this thread for my favorite lonely drinking game. (For those of you who are
interested: Go to an article about Germany. Drink a shot >each time Hitler,
WW2 or something similar comes up. Enjoy and prepare to call in sick the next
day!)"

(from here: [http://discussion.theguardian.com/comment-
permalink/26364455](http://discussion.theguardian.com/comment-
permalink/26364455))

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etfb
Not referring to anything in the past. This is what they're like now.
Especially if you're trying to get them to pay out.

