16 December 2007

Targeting longevity

If ever Social Policy Bonds were to be issued, they may well make use of existing sources of data that can be used, with some massaging. Though climate stability doesn't seem to be explicitly targeted, for example, there are large and increasing volumes of data on the world's climate and its variations over time and space. Now I read that Goldman Sachs is to compile publish a mortality index, tracking a "monthly a pool of 46,290 anonymous U.S. citizens over age 65". The rationale has nothing, unfortunately, to do with Social Policy Bonds, but this is the sort of information that would be helpful in targeting longevity, or some refinement of it, perhaps in countries where it is a reliable indicator of wellbeing. Note that, if the financial benefit that could be accrued by manipulating mortaility rates downwards were sufficiently high, the index could indeed stimulate longevity-reducing initiatives.

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