Huffington Calls Suspension of Mark-to-Market Accounting 'Absolutely Tragic'

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She's been popping up in a lot of places lately to chime in on the economy. 

This time Huffington Post editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington appeared on ABC's April 5 "This Week," where she voiced her disapproval of the March 30 decision by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) relaxing mark-to-market accounting rules.

"This week, we saw so many concessions to the banks," Huffington said. "We saw the suspension of mark-to-market, which is absolutely tragic. Japan, by not having mark-to-market, made it much harder for them to recover."

But as Brian Wesbury and Robert Stein of First Trust Portfolios recently wrote for Forbes magazine, mark-to-market accounting reinstitution was reinstated only in recent years. The last time it was in effect - during the Great Depression - it caused many bank failures.

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"The history seems clear. Mark-to-market accounting existed in the Great Depression, and according to Milton Friedman, who wrote about it just 30 years after the fact, it was responsible for the failure of many banks," Wesbury and Stein wrote. "Franklin Roosevelt suspended it in 1938, and between then and 2007 there were no panics or depressions. But when FASB 157, a statement from the Federal Accounting Standards Board, went into effect in 2007, reintroducing mark-to-market accounting, look what happened."

The FASB decision will allow banks use internal models instead of market prices and allow them to take into account the cash flow of securities. As  Robert Willens, a former managing director at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., who now runs his own tax and accounting advisory firm in New York, explained to Bloomberg, the change could boost bank industry earnings by 20 percent.

Nonetheless, Huffington called the new method in place "mark-to-fantasy" and deemed the decision to relax the rules nothing more than pandering by the Obama administration. But FASB isn't exactly under direct control of the federal government. It's an independent entity that the Security and Exchange Commission "officially recognizes" to set standards of financial accounting and reporting.

"So basically, it's now become mark-to-fantasy," she said. "They can put down any number they want and they're basically perpetuating all these gimmicks that have gotten us where we are and the government is going along with that because basically Tim Geithner, Larry Summers understand that world. This is their world and this is really the world to which they keep making concessions."

This brought a response from "This Week" co-panelist George Will.  

"Arianna, when you get into the business of government allocating wealth and opportunity in a society - let's agree on that - it can't be done prettily," Will said.

Despite Will's efforts to explain that the bank bailouts are a product of  what Huffington and like-minded liberals wanted, Huffington maintained that they an were the government propping up the "oligarchs of America."


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Arianna is an expert at

Arianna is an expert at this.  After all, if Michael Huffington's net worth had been valued at a future market amount (i.e. his net worth after losing the gold-digging Greek bimbo), she would have stood to gain a hell of a lot less by turning him gay than she did by marking him to market first.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." -Winston Churchill

Let's list the things Arriana is an expert at....

1.  Marrying gay guys.

2. Writing books which don't sell.

3. Greek Literature.

4. Economic theories which were discredited in the 1980s (most recently).

5. Liberal media socializing.

So....let's ask her opinion about.....socializing with liberal reporters since at least she knows how to do that well.

subtitles

this woman could use em.

Who is this woman?  What is her credentials?  Is she an economist?  Lawyer?

She graduated from Cambridge

She graduated from Cambridge University with an M.A. in Economics. Still perplexed by her opposition though.

Arianna

Not everyone of her means has a 'Madoff protfolio'. Chances are she is living off tax frees. 

JDW

DAILY WAVE

The government works for me, not the other way around

Re Cambridge

I believe Mr. Haney sold her that 'degree' off the back of his truck.

You're an alright broad, Zha-Zha.

Anyone who can defend their global warming hypocrisy on Hannity's show with their private plane trips from LA-Paris with a "well, the plane is going there anyway" is an OK bubblehead in my book.  I'm stealing that line.

Economics: mark to market

Economics: mark to market unecessarily destroys capital in times of illiquid markets, when you need capital the most.

Accuracy: It is not mark to fantasy. it is internal cash flow models that determine asset value.

Consequences: jail if you lie

Please stay out of economics and science. you know nothing

She is upset because......

She is upset because this makes it more difficult for Obama to nationalize the nations banks.

"When will Barack Obama apologize to the American people for destroying their once great nation?" - MSM 2012

Jeff, I believe there is

Jeff, I believe there is more to this story.  Back in July of last year some CPAs were skeptical of the 2007 rules change: http://skepticaltexa...

But the real story is "who" avocated this accounting change that took place in 2007.  Who or what group of people demanded this???? http://www.ncpa.org/...   Who was it at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) that thoughtlessly rammed this foolishness through?  

http://www.fasb.org/...

Board members are appointed for five-year terms and are eligible for
reappointment to one additional five-year term. Expiration dates of
current terms are indicated.

Robert H. Herz, Chairman 2012

Thomas J. Linsmeier 2011

Leslie F. Seidman 2011

Marc A. Siegel 2013

Lawrence W. Smith 2012

 

Start digging folks find who these people are and who they support

 

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, starving the poor one gallon of ethanol at a time. Fill your tank with E85 and cull a village.

Choice

I'll take Friedman over Huffington anytime.

Friedman schools Donahue:

http://www.youtube.c...

That is not Frank Rich's take NYT sorry Arriana

http://youhavetobethistalltogoonthisride.blogspot.com/2009/04/imus-guest-frank-rich-americanstorqued.html

Imus guest this morning, Frank Rich of the New York Times. They
discuss Frank's take on Wall Street vs Detroit Bail Outs, the double
standard. There is a romance that surrounds Americans love of their
cars however Americans view of Wall Street not so sentimental. Frank Rich doesn't see a big difference between Detroit and Wall Street he feels they both were guilty of the same things.

Plus Obama's trip abroad.

economy

I am economizing words. I cannot afford the entire comment, but the end of it is: "where you came from". 

Arianna Huff & Puff

Who cares what Airhead Arianna thinks about anything???

CT... I don't .... I

CT...

I don't .... I immediately click the channel when they go to her.

Have for about better than a year now.

Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart

Didn't she play Mrs.

Didn't she play Mrs. Douglas on Green Acres, or was it Louis Jordan's philandering girlfriend in Gigi?

Hmmm.

One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 61% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory (yep...approval for Congress now at 39%...do you believe that!?).