13. Accountants and Auditors

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Preface to the Paperback Edition vii
4. Preface xiii
5. Introduction: Finance, Stewardship, and Our Goals 1
6. Part One. Roles and Responsibilities
7. 1. Chief Executive Officers 17
8. 2. Investment Managers 27
9. 3. Bankers 37
10. 4. Investment Bankers 45
11. 5. Mortgage Lenders and Securitizers 50
12. 6. Traders and Market Makers 57
13. 7. Insurers 64
14. 8. Market Designers and Financial Engineers 69
15. 9. Derivatives Providers 75
16. 10. Lawyers and Financial Advisers 81
17. 11. Lobbyists 87
18. 12. Regulators 94
19. 13. Accountants and Auditors 100
20. 14. Educators 103
21. 15. Public Goods Financiers 107
22. 16. Policy Makers in Charge of Stabilizing the Economy 111
23. 17. Trustees and Nonprofit Managers 119
24. 18. Philanthropists 124
25. Part Two. Finance and Its Discontents
26. 19. Finance, Mathematics, and Beauty 129
27. 20. Categorizing People: Financiers versus Artists and Other Idealists 135
28. 21. An Impulse for Risk Taking 139
29. 22. An Impulse for Conventionality and Familiarity 143
30. 23. Debt and Leverage 151
31. 24. Some Unfortunate Incentives to Sleaziness Inherent in Finance 159
32. 25. The Significance of Financial Speculation 168
33. 26. Speculative Bubbles and Their Costs to Society 178
34. 27. Inequality and Injustice 187
35. 28. Problems with Philanthropy 197
36. 29. The Dispersal of Ownership of Capital 209
37. 30. The Great Illusion, Then and Now 219
38. Epilogue: Finance, Power, and Human Values 231
39. Notes 241
40. References 257
41. Index 273