Description: This article discusses the actuarial staff of the U.S. General Accounting Office GAO, providing a bit of history, the structure of the GAO, and explaining that GAO actuaries act as consultants to all the operating divisions of the GAO on matters involving pensions, insurance, and related issues. The author also revisits an earlier proposal for a Government Actuary, a higher level position responsible for all actuarial work of the Executive branch, as well as the GAO, and asks whether the actuarial profession should again support such a proposal.

Description: In this increasingly global economy, actuaries frequently find themselves in situations involving cross-border practice. This is particularly true for U.S. and Canadian actuaries. This article is about recent agreements and discussions among the U.S. actuarial organizations and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries [CIA] that clarify how the various actuarial standards apply to cross-border activities.

Description: Final regulations imposing Continuing Professional Education CPE requirements for enrolled actuaries in the United States were promulgated recently by the Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries. The Joint Board was established by federal law ERISA in 1974 to regulate pension actuaries. Certain pension actuarial certifications required by ERISA must be performed by an enrolled actuary As described below, the CPE requirements will cause some administrative inconvenience for enrolled actuaries but - with certain notable exceptions - will not affect our behavior.

Description: Review of a new text on mortality measurement, 'Mortality Table Construction' by Robert W. Batten.

Description: A survey of 13 universities in the U.S. and Canada indicates a wide variety of actuarial science topics of current research, as well as proposed future research.

Description: A review of the book 'Indexation of Pensions and Other Benefits' by Robert J. Myers, which deals with the indexing of Social Security and government employee pension plans in the U.S., Canada, and other countries, as well as private pension plans, for which the author advocates the voluntary adoption of automatic indexing.

Description: The SOA president emphasizes the importance of actuaries maintaining their level of professionalism by always striving to inform and prepare the decision maker with all the possibilities, not just the quick answers or the minimum level of disclosure.

Description: Article on the need for continuing education for actuaries

Description: The title is the theme of the SOA spring meeting on April 14 - 15, 1980. The meeting will focus the effects of changing outside forces on product development, pricing and distribution systems. Possible sessions are discussed.

Description: This article is written in response to the article that appeared in the February/March issue of The Actuary entitled Better Standards for Setting Standards written by Dave Kass. It discusses the process itself, the time it takes to develop or change standards and how quickly new ideas should be incorporated in the standards.