Knowledge that Transforms

Relation to the proposed International Trade Organization, 439. — I. Background of the Ottawa Conference, 440. — The Ottawa agreements, 443. — Effects on Empire trade, 446. — II. Effects of Imperial Preference on the United States: United Kingdom, 451; Canada, 458; Australia, 461; New Zealand, 463; South Africa, 466; India, 467. — III. Conclusions, 468.

Present state of the theory, 503. — Three cases, 505. — Diagrammatic presentation, 507. — Extension to labor-management relations: assumption I, 509; assumption II, 510; assumption III, 511. — Some complicating factors: supply of labor, 516; efficiency of labor, 518; discontinuities in the value product functions, 519. — Wage theory on the general equilibrium level, 520. — Reconsideration of the theory of bilateral monopoly, 523. — Institutional obstacles to movement to the contract curve, 524. — The contract curve and the concept of the "solution, " 528. — The range of indeterminateness, 530.

I. Perfect monopoly: the short-run marginal cost curve, 174; the long-run cost curve, 179; intraplant vs. interplant economies and diseconomies, 181; the problem of optimum size, 184 — II. Mathematical analysis: geometric proof, 185; algebraic proof, 187. — III. Oligopoly: non-economic considerations, 192; the short-run marginal cost curve, 194; the long-run curve, 196; total cost, 196; long-run equilibrium, 197; elements of instability, 199. — IV. American experience: mixture of types, 200; decline of dominant firms, 202; the milk distributing industry, 203. — V. Conclusions, 205.

The impact of Keynes' theory, 343. — I. Summary of the Keynesian theory, 344. — Criticism, 346. — II. The effects of the demand for cash balances: a metalUc regime, 347; foreign trade, 350; an inconvertible money regime, 351. — III. The origins of the Keynesian error, 354. — The lessons of experience, 357. — IV. An imperfect philosophy of unspecified rigidity, 358. — V. The political consequences of the General Theory, 362. — War-time experience, 366. — The outlook, 366.

The following accounting problems were prepared by the Board of Examiners of the American Institute of Accountants and were presented as the second half of the Certified Public Accountant examination in accounting practice on May 15, 1947. The candidates were allowed four and a half hours to solve problem 1 and either problem 2 or problem 3. Problem 1 was given a weight of 30 points and 20 points was assigned to either problem 2 or problem 3 From the following information, prepare a balance-sheet as at December 31, 1944, in accordance with the authorization of board of directors referred to below. The adjustments should be clearly keyed by letters or numbers on working trial balance. The Construction Corp. is engaged in a variety of construction work under contracts, the collections on which are made on the basis of engineering and architects' estimates as to stage of completion. Customers usually retain a percentage of the amount of each estimate pending completion of the contract. Gross profit on contracts has been shown in the books and financial statements in the year of completion.

This article focuses on the changes that can be made to accounting textbooks so that they can be made more educational and student-friendly. Textbooks should all be published in loose-leaf format. Thereby they may readily be kept up to date. Many publishers gloss over income tax problems; others omit all taxation, because tax laws change so frequently that the book is too clearly dated. To bring out a new edition involves a lot of work and expense. Changing a page or a chapter is simple and cheap. Of course, the initial cost of publishing will be slightly increased; metal ring binders seem to cost more than permanent binding. Also, the publishers would have to insert, on all title pages, the street and number where they do business; so that the purchaser could order new material as it appears. Even the most elementary texts should stress taxation. Authors should take the utmost pains to stress the difference between good accounting and income tax accounting; and the means of keeping books to conform to both. The chapters on Social Security, and Withholding of Income Taxes, should appear in the front of the book, immediately followed by a chapter on Sales Taxes. The loose-leaf system would permit the omission of the last from books shipped to those happy states like New Jersey and Texas which are free from the inequities of sales taxes. The loose-leaf system would also permit separate chapters, each written by a local expert, on the peculiarities of the tax system of each state specifically applied to the small proprietor or partnership.

In approaching the subject of audit technique, the matters which will be discussed will be confined to those applicable to an examination of financial statements wherein the public accountant's responsibility is limited to expressing his opinion of a balance sheet and income statement to be used for purposes of general publication, as distinct from the more detailed examination incidental to the verification of recorded receipts and disbursements or other individual transactions for the purpose of establishing their propriety and authenticity. A realistic concept of audit technique is generally acquired through basic scholastic training in the technical procedures of conducting an audit, careful study, and intensive research, supplemented by intelligent application of academic training to the situations encountered when this knowledge is put to the test in actual business practice. However, the technical knowledge obtained by study and actual experience will lack full effectiveness unless coupled with the indispensable exercise of imagination, alertness, vision and common sense.

The article focuses on the usefulness of training programs for the public accountants staff. During the period of the world wars both the armed forces and industry made extensive use of special training programs to meet the challenge of new demands and to solve the problems created by the sudden loss of experienced employees. It was demonstrated that by the use of proper training methods individuals could be brought to the stage of respectable performance in relatively short periods of time. Millions of individuals were trained to meet the multiple demands of a modern army and millions of others with little or no experience in the mechanical arts were trained to take their places in industry. This was done with such efficiency that in a period little longer than that which it normally takes an individual to acquire a college degree an important part was played in defeating an experienced and seasoned enemy. While it is true that assistance was given by pressures and incentives that do not ordinarily exist in more normal civilian activities, accomplishments in many situations were little less than phenomenal.

The article presents information about surplus reserves. In recent years, published statements have reflected a rather significant expansion in the use of those reserve accounts which are typically presented either within the net worth section or immediately above that section under a "Reserves" caption. In an attempt to acquire an impression of their nature, a number of these reserve accounts were analyzed. For this purpose, the financial statements of ninety-three business corporations, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission during the six-year period 1937-1942, were examined. No attempt was made to select a "normal" period. However, it did seem desirable to include several pre-war years. The ninety-three companies selected for analysis are among the largest business corporations in terms of total assets, accounting for approximately 30% to 35% of the total assets in the manufacturing, trade and service industries. This bias toward size is believed to be justified because the statements of larger corporations are frequently used as examples of acceptable accounting practices and in this way exert an influence on corporate accounting.

The article presents a critical analysis of statutory renegotiation. Since it's inception in 1942, statutory renegotiation of the overall profits of contractors engaged in war business has been the subject of extended discussion. Business interests at first vilified but later grudgingly accepted renegotiation while government spokesmen in and out of the U.S. Congress have praised it most highly. Principal comments in the past have come from those who had an axe to grind on one edge or the other but it is now possible to evaluate critically the results of this legislation. Any evaluation of the accomplishments of renegotiation must first consider the background and intent of the Renegotiation Acts as well as the nature and scope of the avowed aims and then examine the degree to which these purposes have been fulfilled in actual practice. In the first World War, a major public scandal resulted from the excessive profits realized by corporations and individuals and as the production of war goods expanded in 1941, it became increasingly evident that tremendous profits would again be realized.