Description: Essay recommending establishing a consistent and actuarially sound foundation for assessing the costs and benefits of each and every current and new Medicare or other healthcare proposal.

Description: Actuaries and the Actuarial profession have an obligation to act in the public interest. It is not enough to pass exams, keep current and do "good actuarial work.” Both Science and public service must be reflected in all of our activities...The intent of this article is to clarify what "acting in the public service” means for actuaries, particularly U.S. actuaries. It emphasizes the importance (necessity) of examining the "public interest" in everything we do ... and to warn the public where we have concerns. ...Acting in the public interest (a requirement for any profession or professional, is critical to the profession's future reputation and relevance.

Description: This article reports comments made about Social Security actuaries in a New York Times interview by Representative Bill Archer, R. Texas, and Prof. Wilbur J. Cohen, a long-time social insurance authority and member of the National Commission on Social Security.

Description: This presentation is a General Session, number 1GS, from the 2002 Valuation Actuary Symposium, held September 19-20 in Lake Buena Vista, FL. Events such as the terrorist acts of September 11, the accounting scandals, continued volatility in the equity markets, and low interests rates have impacted and will continue to impact the industry and our profession for many years to come. The three keynote speakers, an industry analyst and two leaders of our profession, provide their views regarding these impacts and how the industry and our profession might change and act as a result of these events, emphasizing the importance of actuaries’ professionalism. Discussion from participants is included.

Description: Article Nathaniel Ingersoll Bowditch by Bartlett in The Actuary, June 1979, Volume 13, Number 6

Description: A discussion of the role and responsibilities of actuaries beyond crunching numbers

Description: This presentation is the luncheon session from the 1987 Valuation Actuary Symposium. The speaker starts with a discussion of philosophy, and defines ethics as concerning the determination of which human actions are right, and thus should be performed, and which are wrong, and thus should be avoided. The speaker goes on to explain that ‘in addition to a general ethical theory, as a professional you need a special code of ethics simply because you are a professional,’ discussing how different professionals have different responsibilities and relationships to their clients.

Description: This panel discussion adresses the responsibility of the actuary as he or she serves various publics such as the actuary's employer, government bodies, labor unions, industry and the professional groups of which the actuary is a member. From Transactions of Society of Society of Actuaries 1971, Vol. 23, Pt. 2D, No. 65.

Description: The Actuary’s editor, using the example of an actuary appointed to an NAIC Advisory Group, and an analogy with Jeane Kirkpatrick’s comment as U.S. delegate-designate to the United Nations, raises questions of professionalism and conflict of interest.