The ancient Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times," never resonated more within the property-casualty industry than it did in 2008, when the fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis nearly destroyed the nation's highest-profile carrier, seriously undermined the balance sheets of nearly everyone else, and set the stage for the worst economy since The Great Depression. These macro-economic factors and the political fallout from them helped determine the top insurance news stories in 2008.

The accompanying "NU Top-10″ list is totally subjective. These are the developments I felt were the most interesting of the year, based on my personal opinion and the feedback I received when commenting on these particular subjects in my column and blog.

Indeed, if you feel I've overlooked a key event, write and tell me so at [email protected], or post a comment to this introduction on my Dec. 19 blog entry at www.property-casualty.com.

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