Früher rechneten Firmen ihre Gewinne klein, um Steuern zu sparen.

Heutzutage wird Wells Fargo vorgeworfen, zu optimistisch zu bilanzieren, um den Einfluss des Staates abzuwehren:

Zitat von Tyler Cowen

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Remember the good old days, when economists used to write papers about how firms -- most of all public utilities -- would under-report profits, to minimize regulation and control? These days we have firms over-reporting profits to minimize regulation and control.

(As an aside, Wells Fargo was the most responsible of the major banks, so we shouldn't regard the profit report as a complete lie or illusion.)

We also have economists saying that banks should essentially be turned into public utilities.

And the major regulator is saying the firms shouldn't be reporting as much as most of them want to.

Times indeed have changed.

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