On Jan. 7, I peered into my crystal ball for the likely Top-10 Property-Casualty Insurance Stories of 2008. Before you check out my actual picks (see this week's cover story, starting on page 11), let's see how my predictions panned out.

1 Hail To The New Chief! While I consoled the industry that former trial attorney John Edwards would not be our next president, and I did predict a Democrat would win, I expected Hillary Clinton to get the brass ring, not Barack Obama. Either way, as I noted, health care reform will now likely be a top story for 2009.

2 Bottom's Up! While analysts were pretty confident carriers would maintain underwriting discipline and keep pricing rational, I was not, predicting price cuts to remain deep for all but cat-exposed risks. In fact, double-digit drops in rates were the rule rather than the exception.

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