Seeds of Disaster, Roots of Response

How Private Action Can Reduce Public Vulnerability


"This visionary book reveals the vulnerability of our systems which provide the framework for humanity to exist. The response to this millennium challenge can only be found in our capacity to demonstrate innovative collaboration, effective leadership, and courage. I strongly urge top decision makers to read this book; it provides the necessary guidance to go from words to action."

KLAUS SCHWAB, Founder and Chairman, World Economic Forum

 

Cambridge University Press 2006, ($29.95, paperback; $59.99, hardcover)
506 pages, September 11, 2006; ISBN 0131435264

Click for a larger view of the cover

Home

Table of Contents
(download sample chapters)

Critical Praise

Media Events

New: Lecture by Lewis Branscomb at Penn's Catastrophic Risk Regulation Seminar Series (Large File)

Press Release

Press Coverage

Purchase

seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster seeds of disaster critical infrastructure protection critical infrastructure protection critical infrastructure protection critical infrastructure protection critical infrastructure protection critical infrastructure protection critical infrastructure protection critical infrastructure protection critical infrastructure protection critical infrastructure protection critical infrastructure protection critical infrastructure protection critical infrastructure protection critical infrastructure protection critical infrastructure protection critical infrastructure pr

Reviews, articles, and interviews about Seeds of Disaster:

September 28, 2006, Knowledge @ Wharton:

"Strategies for Dealing with the Risks of 9/11, Katrina and Other Diasaters: A Conversation with Wharton Experts"

In the five years since the attacks on September 11, 2001, Howard Kunreuther, Wharton professor of operations and information management, has collaborated with members of the private and public sectors to determine how individuals and firms can be motivated to enhance security in our interconnected world. In a new book titled, Seeds of Disaster, Roots of Response: How Private Action Can Reduce Public Vulnerability , Kunreuther and other contributors argue that the United States will continue to be at risk for low-probability, high-consequence events like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina until the private sector and public leadership develop strategies to persuade individuals and firms to invest in cost-effective protective measures. The book is edited by Erwann Michel-Kerjan, managing director of Wharton's Center for Risk Management and Decision Processes, and three others.

In a podcast with Knowledge@Wharton, Kunreuther and Michel-Kerjan discuss the book as well as issues like: What incentives are there for investing in protective measures when others haven't taken similar steps, and how can organizations and ordinary citizens be motivated to move beyond self interest?

Podcast available here


 

Editors:

Philip Auerswald
Lewis M. Branscomb
Todd M. La Porte
Erwann O. Michel-Kerjan

Contributing authors:

Jay Apt
Thomas Bowe
Lloyd Dixon
John Donahue
Jack Feinstein
Stephen Flynn
Robert A. Frosch
Sean Gorman
Geoffrey Heal
Michael Kearns
Paul Kleindorfer
Michael Kormos
Howard Kunreuther
Todd R. La Porte
Patrick Lagadec
Lester Lave
Brian Lopez
James Macdonald
Robert T. Marsh
Granger Morgan
Franklin Nutter
Daniel Prieto
Robert Reville
Emery Roe
Paul R. Schulman
Richard Zeckhauser

 

 

This site is hosted and managed by the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center

Last updated: September 28, 2006