I took part in the launch seminar of Rethinking Accountancy on Tuesday. This is a spin-off from Rethinking Economics, funded by my old friends at the Joffe Trust.
This is the whole seminar:
I think the whole thing should be of interest to those who want to know why neoliberal accounting education is failing us so badly. My own bit starts at around 39 minutes in, where I offered some quite robust views. I also contributed to the Q&A.
I wish this initiative well.
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
There are links to this blog's glossary in the above post that explain technical terms used in it. Follow them for more explanations.
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Buy me a coffee!
As you have long advocated, how an earth can you ignore where resources come from when you are exploiting them?
How can you relinquish resources without asking what might happen next?
The whole thing currently is nothing but an exercise in deliberate ignorance and naivety and over focused on profit at the expense of wider social and environmental costs.
Related to this are:
The Microeconomics Anti-Textbook: A Critical Thinker’s Guide (2020) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Microeconomics-Anti-Textbook-Critical-Thinkers-Guide/dp/1783607297/
The Macroeconomics Anti-Textbook: A Critical Thinker’s Guide (2022) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Macroeconomics-Anti-Textbook-Critical-Thinkers-Guide/dp/1350323713/
“Mainstream textbooks present economics as an objective science, free from value judgements. This book demonstrates this to be a myth – one which serves to make such textbooks not only off-puttingly bland, but also dangerously misleading in their justification of the status quo and neglect of alternatives.”
Both are recommended in highlighting the myths of the neoclassic narrative. Discounted eBook available at https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/microeconomics-antitextbook-9781783607297/
I think it was Michael Hudson who said we have Economics University departments and also Business School, because the former teach abstract ideas and the latter what happens in the real world. I have been to neither so I can’t comment.
I agree on economics
But most business school and accounting courses are now deeply unquestioning with large elements based on neoliberally inspired financial modelling
Oh for some good news.
We live in hope
A slight segway but rethinking accountancy is not unconnected with the problems with consultants highlighted by Marianna Mazzucato in The Big Con. The biggest consultancies are those connected to the major accountancy firms and their cultures, behaviours and methods reflect that. The accountants do the numbers but arguably it is the consulting arms who do even more damage.