September 2018

25Sep

UK. Pensions regulator fines more than triple in a year

The value of fines issued by The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has more than tripled in a year, reaching £42m in 2017/18. This value, which is made up of fixed and escalating penalty notices, compares to £12.6m in the previous year, according to information published by TPR. A fixed penalty notice of £400 is issued to an employer for failure to comply with a statutory notice or some specific employer duties. An escalating penalty notice varies between £50 and £10,000 a day depending...

September 25, 2018
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25Sep

Russia. Kremlin loses regional votes amid anger over pension reform

Russia's ruling party suffered two rare defeats in regional elections this weekend as its candidates lost to nationalists amid widespread discontent over a pension reform backed by President Vladimir Putin. A second round of governorship elections was held in two key regions Sunday, after support for the pro-Kremlin United Russia party saw its strongest decline in a decade during the first round on September 9. Vladimir Sipyagin, of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), won 57 percent of the...

September 25, 2018
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24Sep

UK. Small firms exposed to pension fund risks, warns Goldman Sachs

The funding positions of company pension pots improved last year but smaller firms are not managing their risk exposures well, according to Goldman Sachs. The US investment bank’s annual survey of FTSE 350 pension schemes found many were “in the best position they have been in for a long time” after funding levels improved. However, it cautioned smaller schemes demonstrated more volatile funding outcomes due to “a less robust” approach to risk management. Goldman Sachs found the very smallest schemes were...

September 24, 2018
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24Sep

Russia: 3.000 demonstrators in Moscow against the reform of retirement pensions

Three thousand or so people marched Saturday in Moscow against the unpopular project of the government to increase the age of retirement, which causes a slingshot unusual in Russia. Parade participants on a large avenue in the centre of the Russian capital, waving placards bearing the image of members of the ruling party, United Russia, of which Prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, accompanied by slogans such as “Enemy of the people” or “Shame”. “About 3,000 people have taken part” in the protest,...

September 24, 2018
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21Sep

Inequalities of Aging: Paradoxes of Independence in American Home Care (Anthropologies of American Medicine: Culture, Power, and Practice)

By Elana D. Buch The troubling dynamic of the American home care industry where increased independence for the elderly conflicts with the well being of caregivers Paid home care is one of the fastest growing occupations in the United States, and millions of Americans rely on these workers to help them remain at home as they grow older. However, the industry is rife with contradictions. The United States spends a fortune on medical care, yet devotes comparatively few resources on improving...

September 21, 2018
Aging, Books, Labor Market, ,
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21Sep

The Cost-Benefit Revolution

By Robert Walmsley University Professor Cass R Sunstein Why policies should be based on careful consideration of their costs and benefits rather than on intuition, popular opinion, interest groups, and anecdotes. Opinions on government policies vary widely. Some people feel passionately about the child obesity epidemic and support government regulation of sugary drinks. Others argue that people should be able to eat and drink whatever they like. Some people are alarmed about climate change and favor aggressive government intervention. Others don't...

September 21, 2018
Books, Regulation, Supervision,
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21Sep

Financial Literacy: Liberalism, Decision-Making and Social Welfare

By Gordon L. Clark (Oxford University - Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment) Financial literacy is a program for enhancing individuals’ decision-making and an assumption made about the sovereignty of the individual. In its most optimistic form, financial literacy would empower individuals to achieve their financial goals and objectives. It would do so by providing individuals the concepts for effective decision-making in a world subject to financial risk and uncertainty. The logic underpinning this vision is explained arguing that...

September 21, 2018
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21Sep

Endowment Effects and Usage of Financial Products: Field Evidence from Malawi

By Xavier Giné (World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG)), Jessica Goldberg (University of Maryland, Department of Economics) When offered a choice between two savings accounts, prior account holders are significantly less likely to switch to a cheaper account, compared with new subjects without a prior account. While 49 percent of account holders retained their original, expensive accounts, none of the new subjects who opened an account chose the expensive one. This finding is consistent with the "endowment effect." Exploiting...

September 21, 2018
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21Sep

Predicting Retirement Savings Using Survey Measures of Exponential-Growth Bias and Present Bias

By Gopi Shah Goda (Stanford University), Matthew Levy (London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Department of Economics), Colleen Flaherty Manchester (University of Minnesota), Aaron Sojourner (University of Minnesota; IZA Institute of Labor Economics), Joshua Tasoff (Claremont Colleges - Claremont Graduate University) In a nationally-representative sample, we predict retirement savings using survey-based elicitations of exponential-growth bias (EGB) and present bias (PB). We find that EGB, the tendency to neglect compounding, and PB, the tendency to value the present...

September 21, 2018
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21Sep

US. Lawsuit against Brown University retirement plan proceeds

Three former and current University employees can move forward with some of the claims in a class action lawsuit alleging that the University mishandled their retirement funds, according to Chief Judge William Smith in a July order from the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. “Our clients (stepped) forward to file suit because they thought it would advance the interests of their fellow employees who participate in the retirement plan,” said Todd Collins, one of the lawyers...

September 21, 2018
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