Whose going to take the blame when mark to market accounting changes, ends up wrong

Discussion in 'Economics' started by mahram, Mar 17, 2009.

  1. If a year from now a huge accounting scandal breaks out because a firm decided to take liberties again on their mark to market accounting. It blows up big time. Whose going to take the blame. You have conservatives saying we should get ride of mark to market. Kudlow on cnbc is going rah rah, go for it. If we end up with an enron situation where a company like bank of america goes under all of a sudden because, their assets were pretty much worthless, whose going to take the blame this time. And what would the future solutions again be, back to the old thing.
     
  2. Not this conservative! Mark to market all the way! How else can stuff be valued?
    All of this stuff about Tier 3, Tier 2, Tier 1 capital - bullsh!t!!! What will the market pay for it. <-I wish I could make that period bold!

    I am going to take a crap...leave it in my toilet...but, because I don't have to mark it to market* - I am going to say it is worth a million dollars...and see if I can go get a loan on my "million dollar turd"

    -gastropod

    *The market for my turd is "in turmoil" - I probably couldn't get $1M for my turd ;-)
     
  3. Mercor

    Mercor

    Thats true. Because there will be somewhere, sometime a company will fail due to this. Of course the left will quickly impose some regulation to stop something that has already happened.
     
  4. I just find it funny b/c we all know somebody will blow up b/c they decide to take liberties in their accounting. It will be the whole enron situation again plus an Aig.
     
  5. Suspending mark-to-market is a horrible idea because no one will be able to separate the good companies from the dogs.

    The only wild card is the fed. If the fed is willing to provide liquidity through the TAF and other means by buying assets based on what the company says the assets is worth, then who's to say that's not the defacto market value. This could get really messy.

    I personally think it's one more reason why we're heading toward inevitable economic collapse.
     
  6. Lucrum

    Lucrum

    Bush?
     
  7. everybody can see how it can go so wrong right. Like what they want to, is amortize the losses, and let it be a guess on what their losses are. LOL and in some cases people can actually mark up losses to their earnings. It reminds me of how some japanese firms in the 90's decided to mark up their holdings, even thought they were worthless.