Made in America

[Harry_Wilshusen]

Dave said:

 

"Somewhere in there, I think, is the answer to a question I had to answer to pass the CPE course."

 

The answer was C.

 

 

Harry

[Matts_12GS]

Dave said:

 

"Somewhere in there, I think, is the answer to a question I had to answer to pass the CPE course."

 

The answer was C.

 

 

Harry

 

That's well needed humor there!

[Ken H.]

I ask this question in all seriousness, not as a jab at the accounting profession, but how much of this kind of ‘stuff’ has been created to obscure the fact that the perpetuators don’t actually have anything of real value to contribute to an economy/society? Massively complex skimming mechanisms is all a lot of it seems to be to me.

[Ken H.]

I don't really want to get on a soap box and be long winded about buying American, especially on a BMW oriented board but as far as Made in USA goes the site below is a good resource for everyday items.

 

http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/index.html

 

Not a bad site. And while a couple of categories I perused (like jeans) had price comparisons, that’s the caveat that’s missing in a lot of this kind of thing. Sure you can find “Made in the USA”, but is it a good value? Quality for the cost. Sometimes yes, sometimes no I suppose. But often consumer product comparisons come up no.

[Dave McReynolds]

I ask this question in all seriousness, not as a jab at the accounting profession, but how much of this kind of ‘stuff’ has been created to obscure the fact that the perpetuators don’t actually have anything of real value to contribute to an economy/society? Massively complex skimming mechanisms is all a lot of it seems to be to me.

 

If the emperor truly had no clothes, it is the accountants job to report that, regardless of how well the perpetrator says the emperor is dressed. When the dust settles on all the billions and trillions that were lost in the securitization of mortgages and derivatives, if it can be shown that accountants financial reports misled investors through needless complexity, accountants' heads will roll, as they did in Enron. Then in a year or so we will be learning in our CPE courses how to identify fradulent derivative transactions, just like we learn now about the various frauds that happened in Enron. The accounting profession is by nature reactive, and to a certain extent, we are always fighting the last war, just like they accuse the Army of doing.

 

Because of the way the FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) is comprised, with representatives from the profession, academia, government, and business, I'm pretty sure that 'stuff' I described was not intentionally created by accountants to obscure any wrongdoing. The professors or government representatives on the FASB staff, who are definitely not in businesses' pockets, would yell if they thought that was going on. I would guess that the complexities are more a result of academic desire to be precise rather that practical.

[Lets_Play_Two]

I ask this question in all seriousness, not as a jab at the accounting profession, but how much of this kind of ‘stuff’ has been created to obscure the fact that the perpetuators don’t actually have anything of real value to contribute to an economy/society? Massively complex skimming mechanisms is all a lot of it seems to be to me.

 

"In order to reduce manipulation, the FASB shifted away from broad statements of accounting theory to very precise directions, such as my example."

 

I go back to this statement made by Dave with which I agree. The problem then becomes that when you become very specific, there are people who will find ways to use the specifics for their benefit. Where the accountants have gone wrong (I worked for Arthur Andersen & Co. for a lot of years before they got screwed in the Enron fiasco) is in becoming the keeper of the rules first rather than asking if what is going on makes any business sense.

 

The pressure for all of this comes from every public company's "quarterly" business cycle. This quarter better than last etc. Kind of fits with the way the entire world has turned in the last 50 years.