The role of Irving Fisher in the development of fair value accounting thought

Abstract

ABSTRACT Cardao-Pito and Ferreira do a marvellous job in putting Irving Fisher front and centre in the development of fair value accounting thought, expanding our understanding of one of history’s most respected economists. Fisher’s theories played an important role in defeating early socialists’ intellectual arguments, and yet US corporations of today pay as much tax as their foreign counterparts. The world has, voluntarily and democratically, become more Fisherian. The unwarranted one-sided criticism of Cardao-Pito and Ferreira of the current capitalist systems does little to diminish Irving Fisher’s stature as the first celebrity economist who had access to presidents and helped shape twentieth-century economic policy, including accounting.