Description: The United States has received severe negative press the last several years regarding its massive U.S. federal government debt, currently estimated as of April 2007 at about $8.9 trillion. This article looks at the U.S. debt relative to other countries and also explores the impact on U.S. investments.

Description: This article discusses capital market cycles, specifically considering whether or not 2008 was a good time to buy. It concludes that “stocks have likely only recently entered the buying opportunity range on an aggregate basis. However, from a psychological and risk management perspective, we should strongly consider that stock prices will revert beyond the mean for many years, perhaps even decades, before they get better.”

Description: This article discusses creating a good organizational strategy for incentive compensation plans.

Description: Author’s response to discussant comments for the 2009 Housing Wealth monograph paper, “Modigliani, Miller and Mortgages.” The paper is essentially about the genesis of the credit crisis. The discussant found the paper makes some interesting points but leaves too much out of the story. The author reiterates his point that mortgage based derivatives often subtract value and that the Federal Government accommodated that at great expense to the nation's wealth and economic well-being.

Description: This session from the 1995 SOA New Orleans Meeting reviews trends in savings products including the Index Annuity, the CD annuity, variable life, variable annuities, modified endowment contracts - MEC and shifts in the banking industry. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 21, No. 1.

Description: Interest rates steadily declining ever since the Volcker Fed tackled inflation in the early eighties. Ten years of stimulating monetary policy brought new lows. We should have braced ourselves for a return to neutrality, but that concept remains elusive. We will explore structural issues that have brought rates to these low levels and the potential impacts on the insurance business.

Description: A discussion of the causes of Jamaica’s Life Insurance and Financial Sector Crisis in the late 1990s and its impacts on the life insurance industry

Description: This articles explores the notion of whether the old rules and paradigms of investment strategy and caution may no longer be applicable in today’s financial environment, because things were “different this time.”

Description: “What is the likelihood of market crashes? This article seeks to provide an answer to this and related questions by focusing mainly on the crash of October 1987. Specifically, we shall seek answers to three questions: 1. Given the history of market returns, was the crash of ‘87 unusual? 2. How do conditional variance models such as GARCH behave around periods of extreme moves in the market? 3. What is the impact of the crash on backtesting and performance evaluation?” Editor’s Note: The following article originally appeared in the Winter 1998 issue of The BARRA Newsletter, Horizon, and is reprinted here with permission.

Description: The world is facing a complex and rapidly evolving landscape of risks that threaten global stability and prosperity. From escalating geopolitical tensions and trade conflicts to the looming specter of economic downturns and disruptive technological change, a perfect storm of emerging risks is challenging governments, businesses, and individuals alike. As the interconnected nature of our globalized world amplifies the potential impact of these risks, it has become increasingly crucial for decision-makers to understand and proactively address the multifaceted challenges that lie ahead. This article will explore some of the key emerging risks and their implications, offering insights to help navigate these turbulent times.