All the hoopla about government finances revolves around the budget. Few of us have the vaguest notion of the budget of any of our large corporations yet all of us are exposed on an almost daily basis to talk about “the” budget — and the budget deficit.

Most all of us who have an interest in corporate finance are well aware of how Apple, say, did last year. Few, if any of us, have a clue as to how our government did last year. With all the emphasis on the budget and none on the actual, we get a very warped idea of what is happening in Washington. Continue reading →

I plan to do a series on the subject of government accounting which is so poorly understood to be a borderline national tragedy. None of this is terribly arcane but, if we are to have an intelligent debate on the very important matter of government finances then it is crucial that we all learn a little bit about the issue.