The Compression of Deaths Above the Mode • Roger A. Thatcher, Former Director of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, London ; Siu Lan K Cheung, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology ; Shiro Horiuchi, Rockefeller University ; Jean Marie Robine, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)

Age Components of the Best Life Expectancies • Jacques Vallin, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED) ; France Meslé, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)

Comparing the Efficiency of Mortality Changes between Countries: An Evaluation of Past and Forecast Levels in Advanced Economies • James E Oeppen, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

A Contrarian View: is the Room for Improvements in Life Expectancy in Latin America and the Caribbean Shrinking? • Alberto Palloni, Northwestern University ; Mary McEniry, University of Wisconsin at Madison ; Ana Luisa Davila, University of Puerto Rico ; Alberto Garcia, University of Puerto Rico