January 2019

Systems Analysis in Public Policy: A Critique

By Ida R Hoos Systems analysis, which is also called cost/benefit analysis, the planning-programming-budgeting system, risk analysis, and technology assessment, has become the major planning and policy tool of government at all levels. Indeed, it is still gathering momentum in addressing the uncertainties associated with everything from the safety of nuclear energy to the effects of microelectronics. Examining this phenomenon critically, Ida R. Hoos reviews systems analytic techniques in their own circumscribed, simulated world and in the real one, drawing...

December 2018

Meeting India’s Retirement Challenge

By Richard Jackson ALTHOUGH RAPID DEVELOPMENT BRINGS GREAT BENEFITS, it also creates great challenges. Among the most critical is ensuring a measure of security for the old, who often find themselves vulnerable and marginalized as economic growth accelerates and traditional social and cultural norms are overturned. When rapid development is combined with rapid population aging, confronting the challenge becomes all the more urgent. India is one of the world’s most rapidly developing countries. Like most emerging markets, it is also progressing...

Bolder

By Carl Honoré Carl Honoré captured the zeitgeist with his international sensation, In Praise of Slow. In Bolder, he introduces us to another rising movement: a revolution in our approach to ageing. Ageing is inevitable. In this time of longer lifespans, however, we have the potential to age better than ever before. Having travelled the globe to meet the pioneers who are redefining ageing, Carl Honoré explores the cultural, medical and technological trends that will help us make the most of...

Practical Pension Scheme Accounting

By Shona Harvie,‎ Joanne Scriven,‎ Phil Spary Pension scheme accounts are prepared following the guidance laid out in the Pensions Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) issued by the Pensions Research Advisory Group (PRAG). A revised version of the SORP was issued in 2018 in line with recent revisions to FRS 102 and other minor regulatory updates. The revised SORP is applicable for periods beginning 1 January 2019, and the new edition of this title reflects these changes.Starting from the trial...

The Future of Ageing in Europe: Making an Asset of Longevity

By Alan Walker This book provides the most comprehensive analysis available of the challenges created by Europe’s ageing population. Grounded in state-of-the-art scientific assessments by leading European researchers, the book is strongly policy focused. Indeed this book contains a detailed account of the policies required across a broad field, from economic sustainability and extending working lives, to healthy ageing, technological innovation, long term care and political citizenship, for the successful adaptation to the challenges of ageing in Europe and globally....

OECD Pensions Outlook 2018

The 2018 edition of the OECD Pensions Outlook examines how pension systems are adapting to improve retirement outcomes. It focuses on designing funded pensions and assesses how different pension arrangements can be combined taking into account various policy objectives and risks involved in saving for retirement. It looks at how countries can improve the design of financial incentives, and presents policy guidelines on aligning charges and costs of providing funded pensions. This edition also draws lessons from nationally significant investment...

Waiting on Retirement: Aging and Economic Insecurity in Low-Wage Work

By Mary Gatta America is witnessing a retirement crisis. As the labor market shifts to the gig economy and new strains restrict social security, the American Dream of secure retirement becomes further out of reach for up to half of the population. In Waiting on Retirement, Mary Gatta takes the case of restaurant workers to examine the experiences of low-wage workers who are middle-aged, aging, and past retirement age. She deftly explores the many factors shaping what it means to...

Downhill from Here: Retirement Insecurity in the Age of Inequality

By Katherine S Newman As millions of Baby Boomers reach their golden years, the state of retirement in America is little short of a disaster. Nearly half the households with people aged 55 and older have no retirement savings at all. The real estate crash wiped out much of the home equity that millions were counting on to support their retirement. And the typical Social Security check covers less than 40% of pre-retirement wages--a number projected to drop to under...

November 2018

Curious contracts : pension fund redesign for the future

By Theo P. Kocken (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) Klamer’s approach of the culture of economics is relevant and applicable to investing, because culture is an extension of rhetoric and relates to uncertainty. Uncertainty, a feeling of anxiety, is handled by culture. With culture, Klamer focusses on substantial instead of instrumental rationality, and advocates value ethics. In Klamer’s approach values and conversations are central. The values of a culture are not evident and therefore have to be interpreted. Emerging from my personal...