Posted by & filed under Accounting Theory, Corporate Social Responsibility.

Description: Around the world, governments, medical authorities, and scientists have been organizing responses to the COVID-19 virus. The response to the crisis is tapping into human resourcefulness and inventiveness. Yet economists are asking what is it that keeps us from being better prepared for such a crisis, one that epidemiologists had warned about? Something economists call the “social discount rate” helps explain why we are reluctant to spend today for measures that can avoid future catastrophes like epidemics and climate change.

Date:  April 10, 2020

Source:  wired.com

Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/covid-19-planning-climate-change-pittis-1.5528081

 

Discussion points:

1) Have you ever heard of the social discount rate?

2) In your business classes, you have probably learned quite a bit about strategic planning. Why can we not seem to plan for big risks as a society?

3) In chapter two of Wiley’s Financial Accounting: Tools for Business Decision-Making, you will several pages on the conceptual framework for financial reporting. Do you think our current conceptual framework might contribute to our failure to prepare for the “big” problems?

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