PpT HE purpose of this paper is to appraise the cyclical performance of fiscal policy over two recent cycles ranging from 1957-3 (peak) to 1960-2 (peak), and from 1960-2 to the first quarter of 1963. Also, an attempt is made to appraise the full employment adequacy of fiscal policy over this period. The exercise shows that grading, as always, is a delicate matter and that the results will differ depending on what formula is used. The effectiveness of fiscal policy is not easily measured. Obviously, it cannot be demonstrated by searching for a simple association between budget deficit and prosperity, nor can its ineffectiveness be proven by showing deficits to be associated with declines in GNP.1 What matters, first of all, are changes in budgetary position relative to changes in GNP. Moreover, a distinction must be drawn between the built-in effects of changes in GNP on changes in fiscal position, and the effects of discretionary changes in fiscal parameters on GNP. The former relation, which dominates the picture of the last decade, leads to the observed positive association between change in GNP and the level of budget surplus. This association in no way disproves the proposition that the built-in increase in deficit dampens the decline in GNP, just as the built-in increase in surplus dampens the rise. The effects of discretionary changes in fiscal parameters, in turn, should lead to a negative relation between changes in GNP and budget surplus, but this relationship involves lags and is not easily read from the data. Ultimately, the only satisfactory way of measuring the effects of budget policy on GNP during a past period is in terms of an econometric model which isolates fiscal factors. No such attempt will be made here. Rather, we shall compute various overall indices of fiscal performance, based on a more or less simplified multiplier model of fiscal policy effects, and address ourselves to certain conceptual problems which they pose. Our concern will be first with the contribution of fiscal policy to cylical stability, and then with measures of its full employment adequacy.

Reviews the book "Accounting for the Costs of Pension Plans: A Research Study," by W.B. Coutts and R.B. Dale-Harris.

IN recent years the behavior of productivity has received increasing theoretical and empirical attention. Two basic approaches have been developed. The first focuses upon the long-run trend in output per man-hour and examines the sources of that trend. The second focuses upon the short-run or cyclical behavior of productivity. The purpose of this paper is to explain the characteristic behavior of output per man-hour over the business cycle and to identify changes in the cyclical response mechanism. An explanation of cyclical changes in productivity is essential for an analysis of unit labor costs, and is therefore a necessary ingredient in an explanation of the price level and its movements. It is also a necessary precondition to understanding the longer-run trends; cyclical fluctuations in output per man-hour are large, and the trends based on capital and technology cannot be seen until the short-run variations have been removed.

Abstract The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Greece was founded in 1955 by Law No. 3329, which established it not only as a professional association, but also as a practicing firm of Public Accountants. The constitution was formed thus in order to raise the standing of the profession in the face of many adverse conditions. The problems of getting the profession started in Greece may be similar to those in various other countries in which the accounting and auditing profession needs a status lift. The purpose of this paper is to give an account of the rather unique manner in which the profession in Greece has been developed. In the opinion of the author of this article, the manner in which the accounting profession in Greece has been developed has many good practical merits. The regulation of the profession in its early stages of growth helps considerably to ensure that high standards of work are maintained. The strength of the profession is obviously enhanced during this period by a Supervisory Council of prominent citizens whose appointment stems from legal decrees. Theoretical education in auditing needs some considerable development.

Abstract In any attempt to investigate accounting in search of general principles, one is immediately impressed by the difficulty in determining exactly what accounting is. For anyone looking at accounting is confronted with two rather distinct well-springs of accounting thought. In one case accounting is a practical art attempting to record, classify, and summarize certain facts and events relating to business operations. On the other hand, accounting can be viewed as a theory of financial communication, founded on assumptions and containing logically derived and internally consistent conclusions. The fact is that there has actually been a dual or concurrent development in accounting. While accounting was developing as a practical art, it was also evolving a body of theoretical knowledge. The practical development can be traced back five hundred years, the theoretical evolution is of much more recent vintage. This paper will discuss the differences between the theoretical and practical development of accounting and why these differences exist.

Abstract The statement of funds is a time-honored statement, undergoing a metamorphosis from the simple Where Got Where Gone statement of William Morse Cole to the sophisticated variable statements of today. This variability in statements is seen in the following different objectives corresponding to the two major forms of statement presently in use to show the change in working capital for the year and to show the change in cash for the year. The statement accomplishing the second objective is merely an extension of the first, whereby the change in working capital is modified to express the change in cash. This modification is expressed in two forms; the balance sheet form and income statement form. Depreciation and amortization may be listed as sources of cash in the balance sheet form, but invariably are eliminated in arriving at the net income or net loss in the income statement form. The statement should show enough information parenthetically so as to permit a reconciliation of the balance sheet at the beginning of the period with the balance sheet at the end of the period, category by category.

Abstract It is true, of course, that accountants have been concerned with the problem area of fixed assets for a long time. Yet, many significant questions are unresolved. This article suggests a new look and solution to certain of these problems. This is done by extending fundamental ideas of financial accounting to areas now ignored. The suggested extension of accounting reflects the managerial function of planning and controlling plant and equipment assets. It does this by developing the essential characteristics and the unique contribution to the firm of plant and equipment assets over their lives. It is important for the reader to realize that the suggestion is not a plea for external reporting of capital budgets as they now exist. Instead, the impact of this idea has a bearing on conventional accounting practices. The general role of managers and financial accounting relative to fixed assets will be reviewed initially in this article. The overall management activity of planning and control will be expressed in terms of an asset's life cycle as outlined below.

Abstract Accounting is a great profession being dedicated to integrity, independence, objectivity, high personal performance, and service. It tends to bring out the best in an individual. Since education is central to the accounting profession, as it is to all of the professions, accounting educators must give the educational aspects serious and continuing attention if they are to meet their responsibilities to the students and to the accounting profession generally. Within the context of a rapidly expanding social and economic complex, question has been raised as to whether accounting can meet an implicit challenge that will be ever-expanding. Hopefully, accounting will be commanded by highly educated men of vision and ingenuity, so that it will be transformed into an even greater force through expanding services. Accounting educators have a singular responsibility to both recognize and surmount the challenges facing accountancy and accounting education. These challenges have short and long-run implications, the latter clearly being more fundamental, and unfortunately less demanding at any given moment.