February 2017

Hours after Netanyahu visit, UK slams Regulation Law

The condemnation came a day after Netanyahu concluded his first visit with British Prime Minister Theresa May, during which Netanyahu declined to fully back the UK leader’s recognition of the two-state solution as the best pathway to peace. “As a longstanding friend of Israel, I condemn the passing of the Land Regularisation Bill by the Knesset, which damages Israel’s standing with its international partners,” Minister for the Middle East Tobias Ellwood said in a statement. “It is of great concern...

US pension funds are slashing their forecasts…and some don’t even think they’ll meet those

US public pensionfunds are cutting their expectations for investment returns over the next 30 years or more, but some do not expect to meet even the new targets over the coming decade. After a long period of low interest rates, forecasts by investment analysts show the next 10 years will probably bring slower market growth, leading to reduced expectations for the $3.7 trillion of public pension assets. But public pensions are wary of lowering their expected return rates, or the discount...

January 2017

Workable Pension Systems: Reforms in the Caribbean

By P. Desmond Brunton & Pietro Masci - Expenditure on pensions is frequently the highest single item in the public sector budgets of most countries. At the same time, demographic trends in almost every country show that populations are aging rapidly, due to lower fertility rates and improvements in life expectancy. The implications of these trends are that budget deficits are becoming unsustainable, with significant negative effects on competitiveness and economic growth. Inefficient management and underfunding of public pension systems as...