Stiglitz on Accounting tricks around the globe

Steven Hertzberg mailinglist at hertzberg.org
Tue Oct 1 10:34:45 PDT 2002


What is Bush attempting to achieve through this slight-of-hand? (see Stiglitz quote below) Were previous annual gov't accounts inaccurate, or is Bush attempting to put pressure on future social spending?

Stiglitz quote from referenced article - "Indeed, last year saw [the Bush administration execute] what may be the largest accounting fraud ever conducted, as a mega-surplus of more than $3 trillion for the years 2002 to 2011 was transformed into a $2 trillion deficit."

_________________________________ Steven Hertzberg

-----Original Message----- From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com] On Behalf Of Ulhas Joglekar Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2002 7:08 AM To: lbo-talk Subject: Stiglitz on Accounting tricks around the globe

The Economic Times

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 01, 2002

Accounting tricks around the globe

JOSEPH STIGLITZ

The Arthur Andersen and Enron scandals in America have focused attention on the problems of accounting in private businesses. But the scale of this corruption should not blind us to the problem of public sector accounting, where many deceitful things are also being done.

Accounting rules are designed to provide standardised frameworks within which the financial position of a firm, or government, can be assessed. Bad accounting frameworks always lead to bad information, and bad information leads to bad decisions, with serious long term consequences. This is true in the public as well as the private sector.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/articleshow?artid=23797692



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