AAA and SOA censor research and disband voice of pension finance

[campbell]

Given the number of "own goals" the actuarial orgs keep making... I agree with JMO.

[Wag, the Dog]

Me too

[Helen Sass]

Originally Posted by Dan Moore

As described, the paper seems very similar to the April 2005 Pension Forum article "Pension Deficits: An Unnecessary Evil" by Lawrence Bader. I wonder if anything new will be added. Or, perhaps this is a case of trying the same thing over and over, hoping for a different result this time.

So when the Axis of Evil refuses to let this inflammatory, ground-breaking paper see the light of day (well, not a real strong light) we are apoplectic, and when they come up with what seems to be a reasonable compromise to publish it, it's just the same-old same-old.

This is a great forum.

[bdschobel]

No need to praise them for bowing to extraordinary public pressure.

Bruce

[Helen Sass]

Originally Posted by bdschobel

No need to praise them for bowing to extraordinary public pressure.

Bruce

It was not my intention to praise them and I agree about the bowing in to pressure. They claim the compromise was in the works before it reached DefCom WSJ but who knows.

[bdschobel]

If you believe that, then I have this great bridge to sell you....

Bruce

[exactuary]

http://www.actuary.org/content/presi...ncialeconomics

[Steve Grondin]

Of the responses I have seen from the AAA and the SOA, I haven't noticed any explanation of the disbanding of the task force, just discussion about the paper. Have I missed anything?

[bdschobel]

Originally Posted by exactuary

url]http://www.actuary.org/content/presidentsmessagefinancialeconomics[/url]

The AAA's "review process" has always been a bit of a farce. There are too many layers of review, and any of them can be used to derail work that seems controversial or problematic in some way. Many of the reviews are assigned to people not particularly well qualified to review what they are tasked with reviewing. (Many of the reviewers are AAA staff, which I often found to be a problem.) The process is frustrating to any author but especially so when you figure out how rigged it is. I stopped writing for the AAA a long time ago. It was just too difficult -- and not because my work didn't meet their "high standards." Far from it.

Bruce

[campbell]

I believe I mentioned it earlier in this thread, but one of the reasons the Modeling Section of the SOA currently exists is because of the frustration some of us on the AAA Modeling Efficiency Work Group of getting a bibliography updated.

All we were doing was making a list of papers explaining/investigating various modeling efficiency techniques.

We couldn't keep current. It took too long to get through the AAA process.

The SOA doesn't give us such a hassle.