Bench Ansfield on Arson-for-Profit, Insurance Brownlining, and the Bronx

Arson - which frequently involves the destruction of property - and business are not typically thought to be compatible. Indeed, there is a whole industry - the insurance industry - whose stated business is the mitigation of risk, including the risk of fire. Over the course of the late 1960s and early 1970s, however, fire insurance and fire prevention became untethered. This, combined with other developments, created the circumstances for arson to become profitable for some landlords. In this month's episode, guest Bench Ansfield details the local, national, and international circumstances that helped fuel the rise of arson-for-profit in U.S. cities. In doing so, they show how the Bronx and other urban areas like it served as crucial sites of late twentieth-century financialization via a ground-up history of finance told from the perspective of Bronx residents and community activists. Along the way, we discuss insurance brownlining, community-developed arson-fighting algorithms, and disco.

You can listen to Bench Ansfield on Arson-for-Profit, Insurance Brownlining, and the Bronx online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Bench Ansfield on Arson-for-Profit, Insurance Brownlining, and the Bronx is an episode from Who Makes Cents?: A History of Capitalism Podcast by Jessica Levy.

This episode is 39:34 long.

This episode was published on Sep 9, 2025.

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