Suddenly the big news is about exaggerated earnings, disguised liabilities and the deception of all sorts of fraudulent, off-budget shenanigans. But, this time they were not talking about government. The topic was misdeeds by the captains of corporations. Businessmen! What's going on here? Don't these guys understand that only governments may violate the law with impunity? The answer is both yes and no. If publicly traded businesses kept their books like the federal government does, few of the corporations on our stock exchanges would be worth much of anything. But, if "generally accepted accounting practices" are what the law...
