The Accounting Review Vol. 57 No. 3 1982
Truth in Accounting: The Ordeal of Kenneth MacNeal.
Abstract
Kenneth MacNeal was the author of Truth in Accounting, a 1939 book known for its undiluted advocacy of "economic value" accounting. Thus far, MacNeal's book and other writings, though cited, have not been subjected to in-depth analysis. Nothing is publicly known about MacNeal's background, how he came to write the book, how it was received, and why he ceased contributing to the accounting literature a scant two years after the appearance of the book. In this article, MacNeal's work is placed in an historical frame, and the principal arguments in his book are critically examined. Finally, an incident, hitherto unreported in the accounting literature, in which MacNeal was commissioned by Fortune to write an article critical of the accounting profession in the wake of the McKesson & Robbins scandal, only to be told, under suspicious circumstances, that the commission had been rescinded, is related.
- DOI
- 10.2308/tar-4487733
- Volume
- 57
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 528-553
- Language
- en
- Sources
- openalex crossref