It must be the hot sun that has baked the brains of a group of people in New Mexico. They call themselves Think New Mexico, an "independent think tank." They group wants to scrap the state's price-regulated title insurance market. It also suggested that lenders, rather than home buyers, should be responsible for obtaining title insurance because they would be able to negotiate better prices in the marketplace. They assume that the savings will be passed along to consumers.

"When airlines and long distance phone services were deregulated, prices fell 37 percent and 73 percent, respectively. It's time to put money back in the pockets of home buyers by letting the market determine the price of title insurance," Fred Nathan, executive director of the group, said in a statement Tuesday.

 

Hmmm... Let's think about that for a minute. How many times have various airlines filed for bankruptcy protection since the industry was deregulated? Northwest, Delta, United, and US Airways (twice) have all filed for bankruptcy. How many airlines have gone out of business? According to Wikipedia, "in the U.S., over 200 airlines have merged, been taken over, or gone out of business since deregulation in 1978." How many times has the government had to discuss bailing out the airline industry? Surely, that is not the fate we want for our nations title insurers. What good would it do to offer title insurance at lower prices if the companies collecting the premiums aren't around to pay the eventual claims?