Suppose I have five cars: a Toyota, a Honda, a Volvo, a BMW, and a Lexus.
Suppose my neighbor has four cars: a Toyota, a Honda, a Rolls, and a Jaguar.
In order for me to have all of the cars of my neighbor, I need to acquire a
Rolls and a Jaguar, or two cars. In order for my neighbor to have all of my
cars, he needs to acquire a Volvo, a BMW, and a Lexus, or three cars. Is one
of these numbers more right than the other as the value of N, or should the
value depend on whether I am me or I am my neighbor? (Except for not having a
Volvo, a BMW, or a Lexus, it turns out that I am me, but that's an existential
question for another discussion.)
None of the above silliness addresses Gray's more substantive points; I'm just
feeling a little feisty today and couldn't let the weird metric go by.
Cheers.
Ruy Cardoso
email: ruy.cardoso@ey.com
****
The August Actuarial Review contained a number of different views about
the relationship among actuarial societies. In trying to make sense of
it all, a crucial issue that stands out is uniqueness. How unique is the
FCAS? Let me propose a metric: the number of exams an FSA or FCAS should
have to take to get the other designation. From the exchanges in the
newsletter, it appears the CAS feels this is seven, while the SOA feels
it is three. Call the right number N.
Visit the CAS Web Site at http://www.casact.org
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