Description: This article, with some humor, describes a movement known as “econophysics” of physicists modeling economic systems, including capital markets, using techniques and concepts developed in studying the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of complex systems. A version of this article appeared in The Actuary UK in August 2004. Reprinted with permission.

Description: Full version of Risks and Rewards Newsletter, August 2006, Issue No. 48.

Description: Full version of Risks and Rewards, February 2005, Issue No. 46.

Description: Modern economies are based on the premise that all the main players look after themselves. The bankruptcy and limited liability laws gave property speculators and banks a put option on society so they could walk away from losses above their capital base, yet enjoy all the gains of such speculation. They acted in what they believed were their own interests. It seems that society – well aware of what was happening – did not effectively look after its own interest and now must pay the price.

Description: Irish actuary and professor explains his hypothesis that actuaries, as practitioners, are reluctant to adopt the theories of financial economists unless the models on which the theories are based fit the actual data the actuaries have.

Description: The author tries to expalin why actuaries failed to capitalise on their century-old head start in the field of financial economics.

Description: This paper, written following a UK Actuarial meeting, is divided into three parts. Taken together, the three parts intend to provide the reader with an overview of the first 101 years of financial economics, with particular attention on those developments that are of special interest to actuaries.

Description: This article examines trends of the stock market beginning with Dow theory - market prices tend to trend either upwards, a bull trend, or downwards, a bear trend. It discusses the many trading rules based on diverse patterns in the price series since the time of Dow including strictly filter rules.