Lenin in Essen

[Carl Remick]

>Carl Remick wrote:
>
>>I think *you're* out of sync with current reality here, Doug.  Off
>>the top of my head, I can cite Xerox, Lucent, Cendant, Rite Aid, and
>>Cisco as examples of major companies that have had either huge
>>accounting scandals of late -- long undiscovered by supposedly crack
>>auditors -- or grave suspicions concerning their bookkeeping.  This
>>vaunted "transparency" is just so much, ah, PR puffery.
>
>That these were scandals which eventually came to light and which
>typically came with severe punishment of the stock price (not to
>mention an SEC investigation) suggests that these aren't norms.
>
>Doug

"Eventually" is the operative word there, Doug -- these cons were very 
difficult to ferret out -- and clearly the incidence of these episodes is 
increasing.  Moreover, as the economy worsens, more desperate businesses 
will surely cook their books also -- using all the artful dodging that 
transborder financial flows and computer-aided fraud make possible.  Score 
one for Lenin, I say.

Carl

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