Capital allocation & infrastructure spending: let the markets decide
My summer riverboat cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest along the Rhine, Main and Danube proved to be fully as instructive as it was relaxing. The majestic hilltop fortresses, castles and palatial...
View ArticleBanks: prudence and sanity return?
Banks’ auditors have had to deal with the absurdity of accounts failing the ‘true & fair’ test for the very reason that they comply with a flawed standard. Auditors accused of rubber-stamping...
View ArticleEmile’s thoughts on Scottish independence
Understanding separatism The Scottish bid for independence was far from unique in today’s restless world. Madrid’s central and highly interventionist government, for example, is no friend to the people...
View ArticleCorrespondence with cousin on Krugman article
My dear cousin Emile, You’ve made it clear that you have no use for the thinking of Paul Krugman; in fact your views are the polar opposite. I believe the opinions and writings he expresses could not...
View ArticlePerplexing times for economists and accountants
The world of economics and business is riddled with anomalies. For example, the UK is enjoying buoyant GDP growth and low unemployment, yet the excess of government spending over income (the “deficit”)...
View ArticlePunishment where it belongs
After six months the fall-out from Tesco’s £263 million half-year profit overstatement still reverberates. The FRC now expects companies to give full and fair disclosure of how they account for income...
View ArticlePrudent Accounting – needed more than ever
Unaccountable accounting began three decades ago. I know, because I was there when it happened. As a member of the UK Auditing Practices Committee (APC), I acted as its observer on the Accounting...
View ArticleEmile’s comments on “Hard Talk” Podcast: Steven Sacker and John Caudwell –...
Hi Dad, Just heard this fascinating interview with John Caudwell. I’d be interested to hear what you make of it, especially his views on taxation: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02mvyh3 Matt Dear...
View ArticlePrudence returns to accounting, but not to the economy
International accounting standard-setters have at last recognised the error of their ways and relented on the question of prudence, which they plan to re-instate as a fundamental accounting...
View ArticleTelling the truth about debt
Last month I referred to the recent opinion of George Bompas QC that IFRS accounting criteria do not meet the statutory obligation for UK and EU financial statements to give a true and fair view. I...
View ArticleEconomic Perspectives 3: Interest Rate Suppression
The importance of interest rates I have written many times of the persistent but forlorn attempts by central bankers to “stimulate” growth in their countries’ flagging economies by applying the twin...
View ArticleEconomic Perspectives 4 – The Inflation Conundrum
The inflation conundrum As an economic term, “inflation” is shorthand for “inflation of the money supply”. The general public, however, usually takes it to mean “rising prices” which is not surprising...
View ArticlePost-Brexit opportunities – and regulatory failures
“Accountancy” Magazine: September 2016 In the wake of Brexit, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is urging companies to engage in dialogue with their auditors on whether specific disclosures are...
View ArticlePension fund audits: time for a rethink
November 2016 “Accountancy” The central bankers’ obsession with interest rate cuts as a means of stimulating economic recovery reminds me of the “dare” games we played as children, such as “how long...
View ArticleEconomic Perspectives – 7 -How the US Dollar became the world’s reserve currency
Economic Perspectives -7 The US Dollar is the world’s “reserve currency” for international trade settlements – how did it happen, and will it last? [I am indebted to Professor Patrick Barron for the...
View ArticleEconomic Perspectives – 5 – The true interest rate story
ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES 5 “Death by 1,000 cuts” This was the name given to the ancient Chinese method of torture and execution. It survives today as the role model for central bankers whose insidious...
View ArticleEconomic Perspectives 6
ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES – 6 A QUESTION OF ECONOMIC CALCULATION When I came home from my golf game last Tuesday I found my 13 year-old grandson Michael sprawled on my office carpet reading an article I...
View ArticleECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES – 8 -’The dollar is not forever’
Economic Perspectives – 8 THE DOLLAR IS NOT FOREVER [This follows on from my previous essay in this series, and explores alternatives to dollar hegemony, and possible outcomes, in a little more detail....
View ArticleCorrespondence on the notorious “pay gap”
Emile, Is there not a difficult practical issue here? There has been an outcry about the huge pay packet of Caros Ghosn at the head of Renault and its Japanese arm, Nissan. They calculate how many...
View ArticleMy Letter to ‘The Times’ on excessive executive pay
This letter and my article in June 2016 “Accountancy” was followed by the interesting correspondence referred to in my posting of 10th December 2016. Sir Fat-Cat Pay – the cause On July 11 you...
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