On Sat, 8 Jan 2005 17:57:26 -0500, Erik Reuter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Sat, Jan 08, 2005 at 04:21:37PM -0600, Gary Denton wrote: > > > Accountants have denounced the infinite years PV method. > > Do you have a cite of a mainstream accountant writing that present > value accounting for infinite money streams is a "big lie" or totally > meaningless?
In December 2003, the American Academy of Actuaries, the nation's leading professional organization of actuaries, stated that estimates of Social Security's shortfall over an "infinite horizon" should not be used in policy discussions. The Academy warned that infinite-horizon projections "provide little if any useful information about the program's long-term finances and indeed are likely to mislead anyone lacking technical expertise in the demographic, economic, and actuarial aspects of the program's finances into believing that the program is in far worse financial shape than is actually indicated." The Academy said that the problems with this measure are such that the $10 trillion figure should not even be printed in the annual Trustees' report and that including the measure in the report 'is, on balance, a detriment to the Trustees' charge to provide a meaningful and balanced presentation of the financial status of the program.ï Letter from Eric J. Klieber, Chairperson, Social Insurance Committee, American Academy of Actuaries, to Trustees of the Social Security System, December 19, 2003. Glad to be of service. Gary "helpful" Denton _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
