How the AIDS crisis helped create a multibillion-dollar death-speculation market
The AIDS crisis inadvertently spawned a controversial financial market where investors purchase life insurance policies from policyholders, betting on their death to collect the payout. This practice, known as life settlement trading, has evolved into a multibillion-dollar industry that originated when AIDS patients sold their policies to cover medical costs during the epidemic. The market raises ethical questions about profiting from human mortality while providing liquidity to those facing terminal illness.
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How the AIDS crisis helped create a multibillion-dollar death-speculation market
The AIDS crisis inadvertently spawned a controversial financial market where investors purchase life insurance policies from policyholders, betting on their death to collect the payout. This practice, known as life settlement trading, has evolved into a multibillion-dollar industry that originated when AIDS patients sold their policies to cover medical costs during the epidemic. The market raises ethical questions about profiting from human mortality while providing liquidity to those facing terminal illness.
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