The word "Db" is a valid English word.
Db is short for decibel, a unit used to measure the intensity of sound. For example, "the sound of the thunder was 80 Db".
But, according to the WHO, exposure to noise levels of 100 dB, typical in nightclubs, bars and sporting events, is safe for no more than 15 minutes.
This variability of outcome helps explain why so many employers have been keen to discontinue defined benefit (DB) plans; under such schemes, they were required to make up any shortfall.Another way of illustrating the problem comes in a paper from GMO, a fund-management company.
In the private sector, employers are balking at the cost of defined benefit (DB) schemes, in which pensioners are paid a proportion of their final salaries.
"The German list was much shorter than the ones for France or Italy," sniffs a DB spokesman.On balance that is right: Germany comes out well on railway liberalisation when compared with other European countries.
In theory, the presence of private shareholders in DB ML should reduce its ability to win special treatment from DB Netz, though Mr Mehdorn will, bizarrely, continue to head both DB and DB ML.
DB itself would forgo up to €42m in daily revenue if none of its 5m passengers or 1m tonnes of rail freight was able to travel, DIW says.But worse for Mr Mehdorn would be the alienation of potential investors in his company.
Hence the razzmatazz on May 25th when SNCF and DB ran their first high-speed trains from Stuttgart and Frankfurt to Paris, under a joint venture called Alleo, which is part of Railteam.There is more to the rivalry between rail and air than the experience in transit, however.
Fire-fighters and police officers often are able to retire with full benefits, sometimes on as much as 90% of their final salaries, before reaching middle age.Normally, DB plans adjust benefits for early retirement so benefits are lower.
In America and Britain the switch from DB to DC schemes in the private sector has left the responsibility with the individual worker, but employees have yet to rise to the challenge.
The Netherlands, which has the best-funded (and widely admired) DB pension system in the world, also limits inflation-linking, but delivers pensions that are very close to average earnings.
On the other hand, they have to shoulder investment risk and must pay the bill for rising longevity when they come to purchase an annuity.The fact of the matter is that both DB and DC plans are risky, but in different ways.
