Description: By definition, actuaries are preeminent in making actuarial analyses. Nevertheless, in some areas, such analyses can be adequately performed by persons from other professions, such as economists and statisticians. This article describes the misuse of life expectancy data by the Heritage Foundation when they 'calculated' that low-income, single African-American males born after 1959 face a negative rate of return from Social Security. Unfortunately, this misinformation was widely disseminated through the news media and Web sites.

Description: This article presents a satire about a research organization that produces studies of simple and irrelevant questions.

Description: This article presents statistics on the growth of actuarial employment with Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans over the last 25 years.

Description: A review of a book by a former Commissioner of Social Security, in which he shares his thoughts on what Social Security is, the new law, the financing, the benefits, the types of employment covered, the benefit amounts, the retirement test, and several subsidiary topics.

Description: This article contains reviews of the following books published in 1987-1990: 1. 'Pension Age in a Changing Society' by Patrick Carroll, 2. 'Life Insurance Mathematics' by Hans U. Gerber, 3. 'A History of Probability and Statistics and Their Applications before 1750' by Anders Hald, 4. 'Medical Risks: Trends in Mortality by Age and Time Elapsed' by Edward A. Lew, 5. 'Canadian Handbook of Flexible Benefits' by Robert J. McKay, 6. 'Canadian Insurance Practices' by Franklin Reynolds, 7. 'On the Shoulders of Giants' edited by Lynn Arthur Steen, 8. 'The Value of Pensions in Divorce: What It Is and How to Use It' by Marvin Snyder, 9. 'Life Insurance Accounting' by Edward P. Brunner and Paul E. Heacock, 10. 'Duration Analysis: Managing Interest Rate Risk' by G.O. Bierwag, and 11. 'Actuarial Evidence: Valuing Past and Future Income' by Donald R. Anderson. Notices of other articles and publications are also included. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1990, Vol. 42.

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: The article notes, as explained in Norman Solomon’s paper, TSA XV, 167, so-called windfall appropriations are required annually to finance dual benefits to which certain railroad workers became eligible under the Railroad Retirement Act in consequence of pre-1975 employment that entitled them to both Railroad Retirement and Social Security benefits. The author then notes that the Office of Management and Budget has arbitrarily reduced revised appropriations, and that “the actuarial profession should take a strong stand against this by-passing of actuarial determinations.”

Description: This section contains book reviews by various authors as well as a summarization of recent publications. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1954, Vol. 6, No. 16.