> they hate spending even one dollar extra on roofing when they know a taxpayer-backed insurance policy will cover their substandard construction
So people would prefer to lose all of their belongings and be displaced?
So people would prefer to lose all of their belongings and be displaced?
They are clearly preferring to save their money on insurance and keep the chance to lose all their belongings and be displaced. That is a fair way to say what happens when people with the option to buy insurance don't. Including people both whose houses burnt down and whose houses didn't burn down.
In economics there is a difference between stated preferences and economic or "revealed" preferences. It shows what people say they want and what people do with their money are not always the same thing.
Sometimes especially what people say and what people do with their money differ in predictable ways.
It can be fun to juxtapose the observed behaviors with what people say. Makes for very compelling and sometimes cynical commentary.
> they hate spending even one dollar extra on roofing
replacing my roof in a low cost of living area is $25k. I can't imagine what it is down there. It's also an expense that comes up and people don't tend to plan well for. I don't think taxpayer backed insurance even comes into peoples' thoughts at all let alone their justification for lack of planning for property maintenance expense.