Betting on Lives

This work uses the early history of life insurance as a lens through which to examine the economic, social, cultural and intellectual history of 18th century England. Illegal almost everywhere else in Europe, life insurance in England was vigorously promoted in the three decades following the Glorious Revolution of 1688. While serving as a means of prudential risk-avoidance, life insurance also appealed strongly to the gambling instincts of England's burgeoning middle sort. Life insurance consequently provided a vehicle for gambling until 1774 when parliament forbade the making of wagers on people's deaths. In these formative years life insurance embodied the practical aspirations of Newtonian science, the improving spirit of moral; reform and the zeal of a vibrant commercial society intent on protecting against loss as it created new opportunities for investment. This work challenges conventional accounts of the sober growth of the insurance of industry and reveals the troublesome philosophical issues surrounding a business that gambled on providential outcomes.
By examining the rise of life insurance institutions in 18th-century England, this book offers fresh insight into the economic, cultural and intellectual history of a commercial society learning to apply speculative techniques to the management of risk.