Risk assumption - should the state guarantee some forms of insurance?

After the terror attacks of September 11, private-sector original insurers and reinsurers are confronted with a completely changed risk situation that was not a part of their previous calculations. Dr. Michael Wolgast, Federation of the German Insurance Industry, thus argues that the state should assume "some sort of residual liability". In the opinion of Prof. Helmut Gründl and Dr. Hato Schmeiser, Humboldt University, Berlin, this must be "limited in nature" and according to Prof. Martin Nell, University of Hamburg, "must not be used to subsidise economic sectors". Prof. Ray Rees, University of Munich, sees the danger that "state guarantees for insurance protection could tend to exacerbate market failures instead of correcting them".