The current general treasurer of Rhode Island, Gina Raimondo, warns that the state will soon be broke due to its debt problems. After decades of drift, denial and inaction, Rhode Island’s $14.8 billion pension system is in crisis. Ten cents of every state tax dollar now goes to retired public workers and that figure will… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Advanced Accounting
Typos cost businesses money
Websites could be losing millions in online sales because of poor spelling and grammar. This is because Internet users are becoming more wary of scams which are typically riddled with errors and are then reluctant to make purchases on websites. As the BBC reported in July 2011, Charles Duncombe, an Internet entrepreneur based in the… Read more »
“Gettysburg” Debt
Ron Maxwell, the director of two acclaimed Civil War movies, has not repaid a $300,000 loan from 2002 to Washington County Maryland and county officials aren’t happy with the pace of his repayments. The loan, which came with a 4.5 percent annual interest rate, was supposed to be paid off in 2010. However, the Herald-Mail… Read more »
The Volcker Rule
Regulators released a proposal on Oct. 11 known as the Volcker Rule, which is aimed at overhauling how the banking industry carries out its trading activity. The proposal, spanning about 300 pages, includes provisions that scrutinize how banks collect revenue, award compensation and track their compliance with the Volcker Rule. According to financial industry lawyers and lobbyists these will challenge… Read more »
New Banking Fees
Customers are frustrated by new controversial fees from banks. However, they are finding out that it is not so easy to disentangle your life from your bank. Questions: 1. What does the article list as the main reason(s) that customers will stay with a bank, even though they are unhappy about new fees? 2. Which… Read more »
The Delmonte Deal in the News
Del Monte and Barclays Capital said on Oct. 6 they had agreed to pay $89.4 million to Del Monte shareholders to settle a lawsuit that alleged conflicts of interest in last year’s $5.3 billion buyout of the company by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Vestar Capital and Centerview Partners. The case centered on Barclays advising Del Monte… Read more »
The Cost of Financial Ignorance
In Hernando de Soto’s very interesting commentary, he expands Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s thoughts that the U.S. needed to “re-learn some of the lessons” that have led to success among emerging market economies. The bulk of his commentary focuses on the reliability of accounting records that guarantee or make credit trustworthy, including the deeds,… Read more »
Food – Beautiful – Food!
Have you ever wondered how restaurant chains get the food to look so good on TV? This is the work of a micro-niche of advertising. While you may not know the names of the directors, like your favorite movie, there are five or six major players in this industry that fill the $4 billion in… Read more »
Groupon in the News
Groupon disclosed a major accounting change on Friday, essentially halving its once-jaw-dropping revenue after it encountered resistance from regulators with its filing to go public. Groupon, the online coupon titan, announced separately that its chief operating officer of about five months, Margo Georgiadis, resigned and will return to her former employer, Google, as president of… Read more »
Financial Crisis in Greece
While banks and European leaders hold abstract talks in foreign capitals about the impact of a potential Greek default on the euro and the world economy, something frighteningly concrete is under way in Greece: the dismantling of a middle-class welfare state in real time — with nothing to replace it. Since 2010, the government has… Read more »