A
ACCT
Guest
With regard to the scandals, please note the following: Does everyone remember how much publicity and coverage that the scandals received and still do receive? Is the news media in the habit of reporting “regularly occurring” events and/or events that the public responds with “oh, another one”? How many murders do the national media report? None, why not? Murders happen everyday, in every major city in this country. It is nothing unusual or new.
Well, my point is this. The scandals were big news because they were so unusual and infrequent. To have a major member of the accounting industry participate in false reporting is such an unusual event, that everybody was basically shocked that it happened. That’s how solid the reputation of accountants are and what they are thought of in normal situations. Accountants are thought of to have the highest ethical standards. If crooked accountants were the norm, the scandals would not have been such a huge media event. The point is, the vast majority of accountants are ethical and honest - Arthur Andersen was the exception not the rule as proven by the reaction of the news media. The same is true for priests.
Well, my point is this. The scandals were big news because they were so unusual and infrequent. To have a major member of the accounting industry participate in false reporting is such an unusual event, that everybody was basically shocked that it happened. That’s how solid the reputation of accountants are and what they are thought of in normal situations. Accountants are thought of to have the highest ethical standards. If crooked accountants were the norm, the scandals would not have been such a huge media event. The point is, the vast majority of accountants are ethical and honest - Arthur Andersen was the exception not the rule as proven by the reaction of the news media. The same is true for priests.