The pension systems of Arab countries in the light of socio-economic risks
The pension systems of Middle Eastern and the North African Arab Countries are facing several threats that will not only endanger their old-age benefit schemes in the foreseeable future, but will also deepen social conflicts. This article examines four groups of factors that reinforce one another’s possible impacts. Among social factors it is important to emphasize the special, underprivileged position of women, and the traditional multi-generation family model, which is insufficient to resolve the issue of caring for the elderly. The next group is demographic phenomena. These processes are going to translate into considerable burdens for the next generation – as a result of the changes occurring in terms of other accompanying processes – of these societies, whose composition is very young compared to European societies. The third group of factors includes general economic factors, such as high unemployment rates, low economic activity, and the size of the grey and black economies in these societies. As an implicit problem, there are many apparent internal shortcomings in the management of the existing pension systems. Problems such as low coverage, the lack of social solidarity-based pension schemes, covering a broader social basis, and incorrect parameter regulations are present in these systems. The analysed factors paint a gloomy picture about the long term processes, which are worth examining in more detail in Europe, in as much as general conclusions can be drawn that can later be applied to European pension systems.
The political future of social security in aging societies
Doubts about the ability of industrialized countries to continue to provide a sufficient level of retirement benefits to a growing number of retirees has fueled much recent debate and inspired a variety of recommendations for reform. Few major reforms, however, have actually been implemented. In The Political Future of Social Security in Aging Societies, Vincenzo Galasso argues that the success of any reform proposals depends on political factors rather than economic theory. He offers a comparative analysis of the future political sustainability of social security in six countries with rapidly aging populations--France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Using a quantitative approach, he finds that an aging population has political as well as economic effects: an older electorate will put pressure on politicians and policy-makers to maintain or even increase benefits. Galasso evaluates how each country's different political constraints shape its social security system, considering such country-specific factors as the proportion of retirees in the population, the redistributive feature of each system, and the existing retirement policy in each country. He concludes that an aging population will lead to more pension spending; yet postponing retirement mitigates the impact of this, and may be the only politically viable alternative for social security reform.
Biotechnology (The History)
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Keywords: 
 
biotechnology - key technology for future; 
human genome program