Description: This section presents book reviews and summaries of recent publications. Reviews: '1975 Annual Reports of the Board of Trustees of the Federal OASDI Trust Funds...' by the US Congress, 'Providing Adequate Retirement Income' by Schulz, Carrin, Krupp, Peschke, Sclar and Steenberge, 'Ernst & Ernst GAAP - Stock Life Companies' by Posnak, 'Reports of the Quadrennial Advisory Council on Social Security' by US Government, 'Fundamentals of Private Pensions' by McGill. Digests also included.

Description: This discussion focused on looking at the immediate uses of the 1951 Impairment Study for the smaller company, the use of new technology such as punch card machines in an effort to reduce cost, methods of budget procedure, use of interim financial reporting and attendant issues such as interim period reserve computations, and problems with underwriting, commission accounting, or conflict with interests of own agents when small companies accept business from agents or brokers of other companies.

Description: This paper presents multiple book reviews: Reports from Staff of U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means and U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, Reports in Connection with Social Security Legislation 1975-77, 'Statement on Cost Comparisons of Individual Life Insurance Policies', by Canadian Institute of Actuaries, 'Investment Activities of Life Insurance Companies' from Huebner Foundation Lectures, 'The Life Insurance Industry's Marketing Dilemma' by Johns, 'The Future of Social Security' by Munnell, 'Social Security - Today and Tomorrow' by Ball, 'Mortality Table Construction' by Batten, 'Mortality Table Construction' by Batten, 'The Crisis in Social Security - Problems and Prospects' by Boskin, 'A History of Interest Rates' by Homer, 'Indexation of Pensions and Other Benefits' by Robert Myers, 'Life Insurance Accounting' by Strain, '1978 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund...' by US Congress. Brief summaries of additional readings are also included.

Description: This paper examined two interrelated aspects of federal income taxation of life insurance companies. First, a common-sense approach to the Life Insurance Company Income Tax Act of 1959 was developed. Second, marginal tax rates for Phase III companies was developed.

Description: Digests of following discussions: 1. Mutual life insurance companies - their objectives and operating philosophy 2. State, provincial, and municipal employee pension plans - financing and other problems 3. Mortality and underwriting of individual policies for large amounts 4. Investing during the 1970's 5. Long-range viability and regulation of corporate pension plans 6. Forecasting the environment for business 7. Liabilities and surplus in the 1970's 8. Changing modes of family life - work and income over the life cycle 9. The role of the actuary in collective bargaining 10. Health insurance in the United States 11. Adjusted earnings

Description: This work describes a study undertaken to determine whether the Federal Housing Administration's 'FHA' single-family-home mortgage insurance program for investor 'non-occupant' loans should be modified. The sample data were analyzed using both Bayesian and sample reuse procedures. A commentary on the paper is included.

Description: This article demonstrates how returns on GAAP capital are related to the internal rate of return, which is calculated on a statutory basis. The purpose of this paper is to further develop this relationship.

Description: This paper examines five alternative valuation methods - prospective, retrospective, global, intermediate, and static - for the proper application of GAAP to Medicare supplement insurance. The focus of this paper is on the changes to expected future claim costs due to changes in the Medicare deductibles.

Description: This is a discussion about the business effects of adoption of the 1958 CSO mortality table, possible reasons for the declining trend in individual life insurance sales, and effects of NY limitations on commissions and developments in agency earnings that could lead to modifications in the agency system.

Description: This paper illustrates a procedure for analyzing the sources of profit under FAS 97 and suggests an analytical procedure for reflecting actual experience and revised future assumptions in the recalculation of the estimated gross profit defined by FAS 97.