Description: This section of book reviews covers topics of pension mathematics, cost of hospital care, variable life insurance, probability theory and early retirement programs. Also included in this article is information from U.S. National Center for Health Statistics. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1972, Vol. 24, Pt. 1, No. 68.

Description: This article contains reviews of the following books: 1. 'Accounting for Life Insurance Companies' by Charles L. Van House and W. Rogers Hammond, 2. 'Accidents and Homicide' by Albert P. Islsant and Paul V. Joliet, 3. 'Prognosis: Clinical Factors in Risk Appraisal' by Thomas A. Keith, 4. 'Early Retirement: The Decision and the Experience' by Richard Barlield and James Morgan, 5. 'Pension Fund Investment Management' edited by Esmond B. Gardner, and 6. 'Tower of Strength: A Centennial History of the New Zealand Government Life Insurance Office' by C. W. Vennell. Notices of miscellaneous notes and studies are also included. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1970, Vol. 22, Pt. 1, No. 62.

Description: This article contains reviews of the following books: 1. 'Fundamental Mathematics of Life Insurance' by Floyd S. Harper and Lewis C. Workman, 2. 'Mathematics of Compound Interest' by Marjorie V. Butcher and Cecil J. Nesbitt, 3.'Compound Interest and Annuities-Certain' by D. W. A. Donald, 4. 'Demography' by P. R. Cox, 5. 'The Spirit and the Uses of the Mathematical Sciences' edited by Thomas L. Saaty and F. Joachim Weyl, 6. 'Ethics, Morality, and Insurance' by John D. Long, 7. Reports of the 1971 Advisory Council on Social Security, 8. 'Medical Care at Public Expense' by Mark V. Pauly 9. 'Eleventh Actuarial Valuation of the Assets and Liabilities under the Railroad Retirement Acts as of December 31, 1968, with Technical Supplement' by the Railroad Retirement Board, 10. 'Nouvelles tables-types de mortalité' by Sully Ledermann, 11. 'A Table of Expected Working Life for Men, 1968' by Howard W. Fullerton, 12. 'Disability-Determination and Evaluation' by Henry H. Kessler, 13. 'Industrial Safety Statistics: A Re-examination' by Jerome B. Gordon, Allan Akman, and Michael L. Brooks, 14. 'Pensions and Severance Pay for Displaced Defense Workers' by Hugh Folk and PauI Hartman, 15. 'Trends and Variations in Fertility in the United States' by Clyde V. Kiser, Wilson H. Grabill, and Arthur A. Campbell, 16. 'Benefit Plans in Junior Colleges' by Francis P. King, 17. 'The Consumer's Guide to Insurance Buying' by Vladimir P. Chernik, and 18. 'Private Pension Scheme Finance' by Sylvia and Leslie Tutt. Notices of other studies and articles are also included. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1971, Vol. 23, Pt. 1, No. 67.

Description: This article contains reviews of the following books: 1. 'The Analysis of Mortality and Other Actuarial Statistics' by B. Benjamin and H. W. Haycocks, 2. 'Life Insurance, Annuities & Pensions' by A. Pedoe, 3. 'Vesting and Termination Provisions in Private Pension Plans' by Carl H. Fischer, 4. 'Decision Analysis: Introductory Lectures on Choices under Uncertainty' by Howard Raiffa, 5. 'Mathematical Methods in Risk Theory' by Hans Buhlmann, 6. 'Early Retirement Benefits-Panacea, Purgatory or Palliative' by Harry E. Blagden, 7 'Early Retirement: A Survey of Company Policies and Retirees' Experiences' by Mark R. Greene, H. Charles Pyron, U. Vincent Manion, and Howard' Winklevoss, 8. 'Guaranty Fund for Private Pension Obligations' by Dan M. McGill, and 9. 'The Automobile Worker and Retirement: A Second Look' by Richard E. Barfield. Notices of other articles and studies are also included. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1971, Vol. 23, Pt. 1, No. 65.

Description: This section provides multiple book reviews and summaries of recent publications. Topics include aging, retirement and pension plans, investing, demography, mergers and acquisitions, variable annuities and other insurance and mathmatical subjects. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1972, Vol. 24, Pt. 1, No. 70.

Description: This article on pensions and tax expenditures discusses the problems in the development of the numbers provided by the Office of Management and Budget. Tax reform proposals that quantify increases in tax revenue that would result from elimination of tax advantages of qualified pension plans are flawed in the author's opinion.