Insights and Ideas from the American Academy of Actuaries
Contingencies
Features
Irrationally Yours—An Introduction to Logical Fallacies
By Carlos Fuentes "Contrariwise, continued Tweedledee, if it were so, it might be, and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic!"-Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass I believe logical flaws and cognitive...
Passport to Care—Patient Access, Quality, and Innovation Around the World
The author is a member of the Academy's Health Practice International Committee. By Mitchell Momanyi This article takes a comparative look at the issues of patient access, quality of care, and innovation in various regions of the world. In...
5G and Insurance—A Match for the Ages?
By Srivathsan Karanai Margan The first generation (1G) of wireless network technology began the dissemination of mobile phones in the 1980s with analog voice calling. The second (2G) and third generation (3G) came in the next decades,...Departments
Member Spotlight
Mitchell Momanyi
Why did you become an actuary?
I decided to become an actuary in 2011. After trying several fields in college including mechanical engineering, mathematics, financial mathematics, and economics, I landed on actuarial science as a career....
Member Spotlight
Susan Pantely
Why did you become an actuary?
I graduated college with a mathematics degree without a clear plan. Searching for a career, I saw an advertisement in the local paper for an actuarial analyst (listed under math or I may have never seen it!). I...
Special Section
Actuaries and the Oregon Trail Generation
Look to this micro-generation for tech-savvy, adaptable
leadership
By Mike Santore
and Robert Eaton
Scene from William McKinley High School circa 1992
You run into your high school library between classes late in the day to find and check...
Special Section
You want a more diverse actuarial team? It’s on us.
By Sally Ezra
2020 was a year of enlightenment for me. Between my family and social circle, I feel as if I am surrounded by a United Nations conference. My children are mixed race. I have gone through life believing color does not matter-it's...
Inside Track
Interconnected
By Eric P. Harding
I like to play poker. Sometimes, I play poker at a casino
… though not these days. Sometimes, I play poker at a friend's house … but not
recently. No, nowadays my poker-playing is relegated to online only.
You might be...
President’s Message
Generational Shift
By Tom Campbell
Maybe I'm spending too much time inside due to a combination of the pandemic and the New England winter weather, but I've been getting a kick out of the series of commercials about turning into your parents. I notice that this...
Up To Code
The Art of the Possible
By David L. Driscoll
The phrase "the art of the possible" is often taken to
imply that something sought is not all that likely to be achieved, at least not
in its entirety. Imagine receiving a message from an employer or client
stating, in part,...
Crossword
Homage to Leo
By Warren Manners
AcrossDown1Dust-up1Semitic deity5Make the cut?2Overrun9Camp sight3Lab accessories14"Made ___" (2007 documentary)4Source of the word "dervish"15"Arsenic and Old ___"5Draw out16Permission6____ White17A distant place7Put...
Cryptic Puzzle
Deepening Desuetude
By Tom Toce
A number of you
failed to note my email address change. I collected as many of your submissions
as I could before my former employer turned off the tap, but it's possible that
some of you, through your own negligence, won't be...
Puzzles
Road Race Shenanigans
By Josh Feldman
With the pandemic going on far longer than anyone had
imagined, our local gang used to meet at The Gardens in town so we could see
each other in a socially distant way while keeping in touch. Alas, with cold
weather and snow...
End Paper
On Management and Measurement
By Sam Gutterman
Two phrases I hear often are "you can only manage what you can measure" and "if you can't measure it, you can't improve it." Management by numbers has been espoused by management gurus as being necessary-indeed fundamental-to...
