A little rebellion now and then…is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.
Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826), Letter to James Madison, 1787
In his blog of Aug. 25, 2008, Tim Reason of CFO.com asks, Is There an IFRS Resistance Movement?
If there isn’t, there ought to be. I don’t know who would be the general, or even the spokesman. However, some leading accounting professors are coming out against International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and in favor of United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). And last week, PCAOB member Charles Niemeier spoke out against adopting IFRS. Who is the next high profile regulator to come out against the SEC push for IFRS? I heard a colleague conjecturing that it could possibly be SEC Commissioner Elisse B. Walter (democrat).
Over the weekend, I posed Tim Reason’s question on the international listserv for accounting professors–AECM. The discussion is still going on. However, the first three responses were pretty enlightening:
Why? There is no use in beating a dead horse.
Resistance is futile.
No use in beating your head against a dead horse.
(pseudo yogiism by Ed Scriber)
It is difficult for me to see other baby boomer accounting professors avoiding the opportunity to engage in the protest movement of a professional lifetime.
Nearly 40 years ago, I had a great time manning the barricades, painting and carrying signs, staying out all night and chasing cute female protesters. It is the painting signs qualification that I now offer the anti-IFRS movement. With Google image search combined with word processing and screen capture programs, I came up with the following posters and images for the First Accounting War of the 21st century. These are part tongue-in-cheek, part serious.
Now, for you on the other side, I’ve created a few pro-IFRS images
Well, there you have it. Campaign posters for the coming war. Have any suggestions for others? Leave a comment and I’ll make some more. I thank Bob Jensen for providing the inspiration for today’s essay.
Over and out – – David Albrecht
Oh, you are referring to the future, not now. Well, then, can you fault so many in the U.S. who claim that the time is not now to make a change?
It would hemp me for you logically dispute the argument by Ray Ball, and perhaps then I can understand where you are coming from.