A hard market presents both problems and opportunities for agents and carriers. (Credit: Mopic/Shutterstock) A hard market presents both problems and opportunities for agents and carriers. (Credit: Mopic/Shutterstock)

The very first article I ever published was in the December 1981 CPCU Journal entitled "The Underwriting Cycle and Investment Income." Historically, the P&C insurance industry had experienced a relatively consistent cycle between soft and hard markets, at least as predictable as the four seasons found in much of the country. The market would soften with competition then harden with increasingly poor loss experience and repeat this process on about a seven-year cycle.

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