THE END OF BETTERMENT ACCOUNTING: A STUDY OF THE ECONOMIC, PROFESSIONAL, AND REGULATORY FACTORS THAT FOSTERED STANDARDS CONVERGENCE IN THE U.S. RAILROAD INDUSTRY, 1955–1983

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan R. Heier ◽  
A. Lee Gurley
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Interstate Commerce Commission ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Railroad Industry ◽  
Tax Legislation ◽  
Industry Standards ◽  
Securities Industry ◽  
Arthur Andersen ◽  
The U.S

On January 26, 1983, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) announced that it would require all railroads under its regulatory jurisdiction to change from Retirement-Replacement-Betterment (RRB) accounting, to a more theoretically sound depreciation accounting for matching revenues and expenses. The change was needed because RRB did not allow for the recapture of track investment, leaving the railroads with limited capital to replace aging track lines. Over the previous three decades, it had become painfully obvious to everyone that the industry's economic woes were the result of archaic accounting procedures that lacked harmony with the rest of American accounting standards, but the ICC was reluctant to change until new tax legislation in the early 1980s forced the issue. The decision was a culmination of a debate that started in the mid-1950s when Arthur Andersen, with the help of the securities industry, began an effort to harmonize railroad and industry standards using arguments that mirror those supporting the international accounting harmonization efforts of the early 21st century.

scholarly journals Corporate Governance Principles and Sustainability

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh Grove ◽  
Maclyn Clouse
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Boards Of Directors ◽  
Financial Analysts ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
International Accounting Standards ◽  
Short Sellers ◽  
The U.S

With 21st century U.S. frauds destroying well over one trillion of market capitalization and now with Valeant’s 2016 market cap destruction of $86 billion, the question must again be asked: where were the gatekeepers (boards of directors, regulators, sell-side financial analysts, and auditors) to protect investors? Many of these frauds were caught only by short sellers, such as Jim Chanos (shorting Enron in 2000 and Valeant in 2014), Andrew Left (shorting Valeant in 2015), and buy-side financial analysts. Sir David Tweedy, the former chair of the International Accounting Standards Board, has commented: “The scandals that we have seen in recent years are often attributed to accounting although, in fact, I think the U.S. cases are corporate governance scandals involving fraud” (Tweedy, 2007). This paper is a case study using the Valeant $86 billion market cap destruction in 2016 to emphasize the timeless nature of such corporate governance scandals. This scandal was even larger than the infamous $78 billion market cap destruction scandal of Enron which occurred 15 years earlier in 2001. These scandals appear here to stay as the new normal so these gatekeepers should be doing everything they can to analyze the ongoing fraud problems. Accordingly, as a case study, this paper develops lessons learned from this $86 billion Valeant scandal to emphasize the importance of sustainable corporate governance principles as a pathway to avoid malpractices in the future.

scholarly journals The U.S. and the UK in the United Nations: The Impact of the Special Relationship (2001 – 2017)

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-106
Author(s):  
A. O. Mamedova
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Special Relationship ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
The Third ◽  
Regional Conflicts ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Invasion Of Iraq

Currently U.S.-UK cooperation in the UN does no attract as much attention as it deserves. Despite a conspicuous disparity in the countries’ military and economic might, they have maintained close ties for more than seventy years, which inevitably affects their position in the UN. The allies’ role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq cast suspicion on their activities in the organization. In the early 21st century, the UN itself was faced with a number of challenges, such as terrorism and regional conflicts; U.S. frustration with its effectiveness led to some reform efforts.Covering the years 2001 – 2017, the article consists of three parts. The first part focuses on quantitative and qualitative parameters determining the U.S.’s and the UK’s roles in the UN and compares their approaches to it. The second part discusses the activity of American and British permanent representatives to the UN, based on their memoirs and interviews. The third part analyses some examples of cooperation and competition in the UN. The list of examples is illustrative rather than comprehensive given the existence of the special relationship.The analysis of U.S.-UK cooperation in the UN reveals its ambiguous nature, but it does not serve to debunk the myth of the special relationship. The cooperation is largely pragmatic.

scholarly journals Das Kind Mit Dem Bade Ausschütten? U.S. Federal School Reform in Early 21ST Century

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-81
Author(s):  
D. A. LANKO
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
School Reform ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Short Run ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Trump Administration

Grounded in analysis of specific features of the federal school reform  undertaken in the U.S. in early 21st century, this article demonstrates that the U.S. government attempted to reduce  the number of students lagging behind and thus to increase  students’ average performance by means of stimulating them to  transfer from underperforming to better schools, including from  public schools to schools of other types, which offer higher quality of  teaching. The article distinguishes three stages of the reform. On the first stage, in late 20th century, new types of schools emerged in the  U.S.: in addition to pre-existent public, private and religious schools, as well as home schooling, magnet schools  emerged in 1970s, and charter schools emerged in 1990s. On the  second stage, during George W. Bush Administration, U.S.  government assumed the powers to stimulate transfer of students  from underperforming public schools to charter schools, and to  stimulate increase in the number of charter schools. On the third  stage, during Barack Obama Administration and the first year of Donald Trump Administration, U.S. government faced the  impossibility to significantly increase the number of charter schools, to stimulate mass transfer of students from public schools  to charter schools, and to significantly improve average students’  performance over short time. Even if U.S. government assumes the  powers to stimulate transfer of students also to private schools, as  Donald Trump Administration proposed, it will hardly have a positive  effect in the short run. The article concludes that the model of school reform applied in the U.S. cannot solve the puzzle, because it  concentrates available resources around elite schools, while most  students lagging behind concentrate around traditional public schools.

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