Protecting the Public?

[CPA2]

Anytime you see the phrase, “to protect the public interest,” a little red flag should go up! Rent seeking behavior is at play.

“In yet another huge announcement from the AICPA this morning, Roger CPA Review was told that panels are being formed in order to determine a new passing score for each section of the exam. This is in conjunction with the new CBT-e changes that are set to occur 01/01/2011.”

“Before you start freaking out and signing up for all your exams at once, worrying that the passing rate will be pushed up to 100 points and you will have to get each and every question right - consider that **the reasoning behind this review process is to protect the public interest **and make the CPA designation stay as prestigious as it is. The AICPA will ensure that the exam is still fair and completely passable.”

“Rent seeking is the term used by economists when referring to actions taken by individuals and groups seeking to use the political process to plunder the wealth of others (Rowley, Tollison, & Tullock).” Rent-seeking behavior is the idea that government licensure of professions is necessary to protect the public. Milton Friedman, 1976 Nobel prize winner in economics, wrote his PhD dissertation at Columbia in the 1940’s on rent-seeking behavior. He refuted the constantly repeated mantra of rent-seeking behavior. Milton Friedman’s works provide empirical evidence that licensure is nothing more than a mechanism used by members of a profession to raise the entry costs, and thus keep wages and profits artificially high. Rent-seeking behavior improves the welfare of someone at the expense of the welfare of someone else (Baker, Morris, Barnett).

 

[Newbie2]

Another red flag=Any statement that starts with “The American people…”.

 

[claymcdermott]

Yes, I have noticed that anything entitled “The People’s” something, we’ll take the example of Zinn’s disgusting propaganda piece, “The People’s History of the United States,” argues that any one who does not think like that, behave like that, or come from the same back ground as the author, is not a person, or at least is not a real common man.

 

[CPA2]

Anytime you see the phrase, “to protect the public interest,” a little red flag should go up! Rent seeking behavior is at play.

“In yet another huge announcement from the AICPA this morning, Roger CPA Review was told that panels are being formed in order to determine a new passing score for each section of the exam. This is in conjunction with the new CBT-e changes that are set to occur 01/01/2011.”

“Before you start freaking out and signing up for all your exams at once, worrying that the passing rate will be pushed up to 100 points and you will have to get each and every question right - consider that **the reasoning behind this review process is to protect the public interest **and make the CPA designation stay as prestigious as it is. The AICPA will ensure that the exam is still fair and completely passable.”

“Rent seeking is the term used by economists when referring to actions taken by individuals and groups seeking to use the political process to plunder the wealth of others (Rowley, Tollison, & Tullock).” Rent-seeking behavior is the idea that government licensure of professions is necessary to protect the public. Milton Friedman, 1976 Nobel prize winner in economics, wrote his PhD dissertation at Columbia in the 1940’s on rent-seeking behavior. He refuted the constantly repeated mantra of rent-seeking behavior. Milton Friedman’s works provide empirical evidence that licensure is nothing more than a mechanism used by members of a profession to raise the entry costs, and thus keep wages and profits artificially high. Rent-seeking behavior improves the welfare of someone at the expense of the welfare of someone else (Baker, Morris, Barnett).

I am also willing to bet that the change in the four CPA exams in 2011 will force the pass rate for each CPA exam to go back down to 40%, rather than the current pass rate of around 45%! Additionally, I assume that the probability of passing all four CPA exams on the first try will also go back down 10%.

None of this has anything to do with protecting the public interest. Ditto for medical doctors and the medical profession.

 

[fakename]

Also when politicians say deregulation they really mean more regulation or just direct subsidies.

 

[vz71]

Anyone remember the old soviet union flavor of communism where everything was ‘the peoples’…see anything familiar now within our own government?

My personal favorite of all the red flags is “It’s for the children.”

 

[CPA2]

We have persuaded ourselves that it is safe to grant power to the government, provided it is for good purposes. We do not recognize the dangers of an over-governed society.