OTHER ACCOUNTING MISADVENTURES THIS WEEK.

OTHER ACCOUNTING MISADVENTURES THIS WEEK. This week’s Economist (November 5) reported on page 12 that Germany’s finance ministry had discovered an accounting error at a nationalized bank which meant that the country’s debt had been overstated by $77 billion and that Ireland’s finance ministry had discovered an accounting error at its housing agency which meant that the country’s debt had been overstated by 3.6 billion euros (about $4.5 billion dollars). Germany’s debt as a percentage of GDP drops by 3% and Ireland’s by 2%. An amazing week.