links for 2007-07-08

• Who's behind the integration decision? - Los Angeles Times
• The Habsburgs and future European integration - voxEU
• Counting on Failure, Energy Chairman Floats Carbon Tax - New York Times
• New protectionism and unskilled workers - voxEU
• After Lobbying, Wetlands Rules Are Narrowed - New York Times
• Williams syndrome - Social Inhibition  - New York Times
• Seeing Al Qaeda Around Every Corner - New York Times

Comments

[real person from the real world]

This is addition to the above. It shows the "profit motive" of capitalism in action to fleece the next opportunity out there, elderly. Not only are we insecure in jobs, more vulnerable to dituations that can arise and but us irrevocably into devt, and lack health care, but the same middle men who bleed off money and weed us out are also looking to cheat us as a result:

For Elderly Investors, Instant Experts Abound
By CHARLES DUHIGG Published NY Times: July 8, 2007

Mr. (see article for name) is one of tens of thousands of financial advisers working hand-in-hand with insurance companies to market themselves to older Americans using impressive-sounding credentials like “certified elder planning specialist,” “registered financial gerontologist,” “certified retirement financial adviser” and “certified senior adviser.”
Many of these titles can be earned in just a few days from for-profit businesses, and sound similar to established credentials, like certified financial planner, that require years of study, difficult tests and extensive background checks.
“The degree isn’t worth the paper it’s written on,” said T. Kevin McElreath, a financial adviser in Milford, Mass., who took the certified senior adviser exam but does not use the credential. For many agents, he said, “it’s a scam, a way to put a title on a business card that impresses gullible seniors.”
.............The prize for these insurers and sales agents is a piece of the $15 trillion held by Americans 65 and older, the largest pool of assets ever amassed by an aging population, according to the Government Accountability Office.
As older Americans’ wealth has grown, so too have programs that offer quickly earned credentials or that teach agents how to sell to the elderly.
.........insurers are happy to turn a blind eye to what salesmen are doing, as long as they make a sale,” said Minnesota’s attorney general, Lori Swanson, who is suing several companies...........
........complaints over sales of insurance products have soared. In particular, grievances have stemmed from annuities, which are insurance contracts that offer buyers monthly or yearly income in exchange for one large lump-sum payment and are designed to appeal to anyone worried they might outlive their savings.
Over one-third of all cases of financial exploitation of the elderly involve annuities....