(Accounting Numbers and the Environment) Hardly a day goes by without an article appearing on the continuing fallout from the financial crisis of 2008. An overheated real estate market, fueled by home purchase incentives, poor lending practices, and securitization through high-risk, mortgage-backed securities, led to a near collapse of global capital markets. As a consequence, many have argued that if the financial institutions had been required to report their loans (and loan-backed investments) at fair value instead of cost, large losses would have been reported earlier. This would have signaled regulators to the problems in the mortgage markets and therefore minimized the losses to U.S. taxpayers.

Instructions Explain how reported accounting numbers might affect an individual’s perceptions and actions. Cite two examples.