Point of Principle

Gaining agreement on global principles takes time. Those involved in such discussions try and warn us mere mortals of the complicated nature of the task. And still these informed pessimists are hopelessly optimistic as to the likely timeline. If the International Accounting Standards Committee is anything to go by, the equation for producing globally accepted principles should involve thinking of a sensible number of years, tripling it and then adding a whole lot more just for good measure.