Abstract This article focuses on new internal revenue act and the prosperity of the economy of United States. The devices to stimulate enterprise, employment and prosperity, five features are set forth. They are: the extension to two years of the carry-back for net business losses, the modifications in the taxation of dividend income received by individuals, the provisions for accelerated depreciation, provisions for deduction of research and development expenditures and the relaxation of provisions relating to the taxation of undistributed earnings of corporations. The author suggests that perhaps this new code should be looked upon as the first step, or the first few steps, toward a tax system that gives more attention to economic incentives. These features offer some promise of helping. It would be a mistake to regard them as anything more than helpers. They are only a part of an intricate tax system. The system itself is not an all-purpose economic tool, it is only one of several regulators in the economy.

Abstract The author discusses the impact of new revenue code on accounting. He describes the effects of taxation and tax laws on accounting theory and practice. He discusses the probable effects of changes in taxing rules on accounting practice. He clarifies the possible effects of tax rules on non-tax accounting by way of illustration. He further mentions two new methods which may be used for tax purposes, which are, the double-rate declining balance method and the sum of the years-digits method. He mentions the effects of changes that occur when a taxpayer changes from accrual method of reporting installment sales to the installment method and changes in the selection of fiscal years for tax purposes. He discusses the change that could affect the willingness of taxpayers to change from an accounting method for accounting purposes. He briefly mentions the minor changes which effected in bringing tax accounting closer to financial accounting and code changes which affect accounting indirectly. He mentions the responsibilities of the accounting profession in face of the new internal revenue code.

Reviews the book "Financing Business Firms," by Charles L. Prather.

Abstract This article focuses on non-linear depreciation in accounting. The depreciation of a physical asset is its decline in value by the action of deleterious or adverse factors. These generally are wear-and-tear, the elements, neglect, and so on, but may also include obsolescence and other nonphysical factors. The basic problem of accounting for depreciation is the selection of the systematic manner in which the cost of the asset is to be written off over its useful life. The value of the asset declines from its initial value at the beginning of its useful life to a terminal value at the end thereof. This terminal value may be either zero or a residual value commonly termed the scrap value. The problem is to state the residual or depreciated value of the asset at any selected point during its life. There are two general types of continuous functions available for depreciation computations, the rectilinear and the curvilinear. The facts of curvilinear depreciation will be formulated herein in such a manner that anyone desirous of utilizing such a scheme for the computation of depreciation need only substitute the basic data of the problem in a formula.

Reviews the book "The Business Enterprise As a Subject for Research," by Howard R. Bowen.

Reviews the book "Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Institute of Accounting."

Abstract The article focuses on choice among alternatives in accounting for verbal builders. The verbal builder, chains ideas into idea-models with a relatively free hand, he can choose the units to be included, selecting among alternative ideas the ones he thinks most desirable; his arrangement of units is also of his own choosing his objective is a simple one that of choosing and arranging idea-units in a manner convincing to himself and persuasive to his readers that by his sequence of thought another idea has been given creditable support. The fact of the matter is that there are two ways of thinking of accounting theory. One way is to consider the theory as many explanations, reasons, justifications which will help to understand why accountancy is what it is, and second view of accounting theory is being reflected particularly in some of the items in the literature which suggest in one way or another that economic engineering needs better data for its use than that supplied about enterprise net income by the usual process of accounting. Since accounting cannot offer a universal service to all types of entities, one of the basic premises needed for a theory of accounting seems not to support a conclusion in favor of modifications by application of index numbers.

I. Introduction and review, 537. — II. Many-goods model, 539. — III. Euler necessary conditions, 541. — IV. Case of satiated production, 544. — V. Physical analogy of small vibrations, 547. — VI. Case of utility satiation, 549. — VII. Practical computation, 553. — VIII. Hamiltonian formulation, 554. — IX. Pay-off in terms of initial state, 559. — X. Conclusion, 561.