1. One of the key themes of The Reckoning is the following: If there is any historical lesson to be learned here, it is that those societies that managed to harness accounting as part of their general cultures flourished. Republican Italian city-states like Genoa and Florence, Golden Age Holland, and eighteenth and nineteenth-century Britain and America all integrated accounting into their educational curriculum, religious and moral thought, art, philosophy, and political theory. What do you think? Is it necessary to somehow broaden the reach of accounting so that all have a basic understanding and it is part of most everyones daily life? If so, how do we accomplish this? If not, how do we ensure people continue to trust the government, to trust the companies they are invested in and trust the companies they depend on for their jobs and livelihoods if they do not understand the financial reports they issue?

2. Why does the author say the commitment of accounting professionals to the public interest is still suspect?