About

Out of the Storm News – OOTS News, as we hope you will affectionately call us – is a web publication of the Heartland Institute’s Center on Finance, Insurance and Real Estate. We launched on July 19, 2010 (auspiciously, this is also OOTS News’s first editor’s birthday).

OOTS News is a regularly updated webzine devoted to providing a fresh perspective on the issues our center deals with: finance, insurance and real estate. We will be updating OOTS News daily, with a mix of blogs, feature stories, breaking news, and real analysis of the issues that shape the worlds of finance, insurance and real estate.

To invoke the ideas of economist George Stigler, the work that Heartland does in the Finance, Insurance and Real Estate realm involves “high complexity, low salience” issues. The issues we deal with are complicated and consequential but rarely the stuff of headlines. Enticed? We hope you will be: our mission is to provide coverage of these issues in ways that will be interesting – perhaps even fascinating – to a wide audience of industry members and policy makers, as well as to a general readership that appreciates a smart and engaging take on these important issues.

We hope you’ll enjoy reading OOTS News, and would love to hear from you.

Our Staff

Eli Lehrer is the National Director for the Center on Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (C-FIRE). He writes the weekly Letter from Washington for OOTS News as well as contributing other stories to the magazine.

Matt Glans, C-FIRE’s Midwest Director, writes OOTS News’s daily Out Of The Fire blog, and also regularly contributes other stories to the magazine.

C-FIRE’s Florida Director, Christian R. Cámara, writes OOTS News’s Letter from Florida, and also contributes other stories to the magazine.

Julie Drenner is C-FIRE’s Texas Director. Julie writes OOTS News’s Letter from Texas, and also contributes other stories to the magazine.

OOTS News works with experienced freelance writers. Please drop a line with story ideas.