RJA #15b: Reflection on What You Learned

As I reflect on what I’ve learned in this class, I am struggling to narrow my ideas down. I have learned so much! I have truly enjoyed this class because I was taught different ways to utilize the internet and this wonderful world of Web 2.0. I enjoyed learning different search engines, like Incywincy and Kartoo. I also appreciate learning how to do a Blog, although I don’t know if I will ever use it again. My husband wants me to put in this paragraph how much he appreciates me learning about Web 2.0 and Second Life. Neither one of us had ever heard of these before, so one night I kept my husband awake for hours while I talked his ears off about what I was learning in this class, specifically Web 2.0, Second Life and blogs. He is a probation officer and attended a training session about how criminals are utilizing the internet, and the instructor asked if anyone know what Web 2.0 was and if anyone had ever heard of Second Life, and he was able to say yes. He was the only one in the class that had heard of these!
Over the summer, I was taking online classes, and was forced (not really) to take a vacation to Hawaii. I had to take my husband’s laptop and it was confusing and time consuming getting all my Favorites transferred over to his laptop so that I could stay on top of my homework. I wish I had known about Delicious before that trip. Learning about Wordle and Slideshare.net is very exciting as well, and these are both very valuable websites that I can see myself using in the future, probably for classes. I have shown my husband slideshare.net and he is using it for his work.
One of the things that I really appreciate about this class is how the writing process was broken down over several weeks. By the time I sat down to write my paper, I was able to take the research I had already done for my outline, PowerPoint and the different blog posts, and work those into my paper. I’m usually very intimidated by the writing process because it seems so overwhelming, but being able to take small sections, and work those small sections into the bigger paper made it so much easier. This is a process that I will use in the future.
After this class, I feel like I’ve finally entered the 21st century internet world. I’ve noticed that I still save websites to my Favorites list, because that is what I’m used to doing. I’m not sure if I will get comfortable using Delicious outside of school. I also found a lot of websites during my research for this class, as well as during my personal web surfing, that have the RSS link, and I’ve clicked on several of these, but I haven’t actually gone back and read anything from that yet. I keep forgetting about them and I’m not used to checking them yet.
In closing, this is the first English and writing class I have really enjoyed.

RJA #15a: Word Cloud

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1419641/Government_Oversight

RJA #14: Annotated Bibliography, Part 2

"CRA Amendments in the Gramm-Leach Act." United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs : Home. US Senate, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2009. .
The website is sponsored by the United States Senate Committee for Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. The information from the paper was supplied by a section on this website entitled “Summary of Provisions” and is part of a larger article called “Information Regarding the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999”.
McLaughlin, Martin. "Clinton, Republicans agree to deregulation of US financial system." World Socialist Web Site. International Committee of the Fourth International , 1 Nov. 1999. Web. 20 Nov. 2009. .
This article was written by Martin McLaughlin for the World Socialist Web Site. The World Socialist Web Site is sponsored by the International Committee of the Fourth International, established in 1938. This website and the sponsoring company have a political agenda towards worldwide Socialism, but the article referenced carried the same information that other websites/newspapers/journals had. The article discussed the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act and the situation surrounding the eventual repeal of this Act. It discussed that one of the major supporters of this repeal was a company that directly benefited financially from the repeal. This information is common public knowledge and the facts were not twisted to support their agenda.
Online NewsHour. "Online NewsHour: Analysis Investment Banks Need Oversight March 26, 2008 PBS." PBS. Online NewsHour, 26 Mar. 2008. Web. 20 Nov. 2009. .
The Online NewsHour is on public television and is a news show that is ran by Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer and started in 1973. In 1983 it became the only national news broadcast that was an hour long. The NewsHour prides itself on reporting information that includes all perspectives. The article referenced in the research paper was a transcript of an interview from March 2008 between journalist Judy Woodruff, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Heritage Foundation’s (a public policy research institute) David John, and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research Dean Baker. They were discussing a variety of items, including the government oversight being returned to the financial institution after the bailout of Bear Stearns. There were several viewpoints included, and discussions were evenly presented.
"David C. John." The Heritage Foundation - Conservative Policy Research and Analysis. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2009. .
This is a biography page that established the credibility of David John. It discusses his role within The Heritage Foundation and his areas of expertise.
"FASB: Financial Accounting Standards Board." FASB: Financial Accounting Standards Board. FASB, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2009. .
This is a history of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to establish credibility. The Board was started in 1973 and is officially recognized by the SEC as the authority for financial accounting. FASB oversees the private sector, while GASB oversees the government sector.
Gingrich, Newt, and David Kralik. "Articles & Commentary." Welcome to AEI. American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 5 Nov. 2008. Web. 22 Nov. 2009.
Newt Gingrich is the former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and is now a Senior Fellow for the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, which was started in 1943. Their goal is to be nonpartisan and nonpolitical.

RJA #13b: Annotated Bibliography, Part 1

Frontline. “Frontline: The wall street fix: Mr. Weill goes to Washington: The long demise of Glass-Steagall PBS." PBS. Frontline, 8 May 2003. Web. 10 Nov. 2009. .
Frontline, a 26 year old television news source on PBS, has dedicated time and expertise in uncovering the financial problems of the last 10 years. The article referenced here explains why the repeal of Glass-Steagall helped companies become larger and ultimately led to the recession by removing the conflict of interest laws. The article explains the change of laws, and the history behind it, and it gives the facts without opinions.
Cornwell, Rupert . " The Big Question: What was Roosevelt's New Deal, and is something like it needed today? - World Politics, World - The Independent." The Independent News UK and Worldwide News Newspaper. The Independent World, 17 Sept. 2008. Web. 10 Nov. 2009. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/the-big-question-what-was-roosevelts-new-deal-and-is-something-like-it-needed-today-932942.html
The Independent World is a British newspaper that started in 1986, and it printed in magazine form. The author of this article, Rupert Cornwell, has been with The Indepentent World since it’s inceptions, and has also written for Financial Times and Reuters. The particular article explains the history of the New Deal, and what it did to bring the United States out of the Great Depression. It also explains why something similar to it, or at least changing laws, might benefit us today.
"Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999." United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs : Home. Senate.gov, 1 Nov. 1999. Web. 10 Nov. 2009. .
The source is direct from the governemtn website and explaines the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, which is the law that overturned the Glass-Steagall Act. The source states just the facts and has the orginal wording from the Act.
"Sarbanes-Oxley - Financial and Accounting Disclosure Information." Sarbanes-Oxley - Financial and Accounting Disclosure Information. Sarbanes-Oxley, 19 Nov. 2002. Web. 10 Nov. 2009. http://www.sarbanes-oxley.com/section.php
This source is the “go-to” website for any questions about Sarbanes-Oxley. It is unbiased and states only the facts and history of Sarbanes-Oxley.

RJA #13a: Field Research Report

I have not performed a field research project.

Power Point Presentation

http://www.slideshare.net/ebennet9

RJA #12c: Introduction Check

http://colleenschoolblog.blogspot.com/

http://lindseykaje.blogspot.com

RJA #12b: Presentation Plan

For my presentation, I will design it in Power Point and include charts and graphs that demonstrate the amounts of foreclosures, bankruptcys, and banks and financial institutions that have failed in the last ten years. I will have a section on the New Deal that tells the history behind government oversight of banks, and a section that discusses the law that changed in 1999, when government oversight was removed.

RJA 12a: Progress Report

I am up to date with my posts, and I have completed my thesis and introduction, and textbook readings, up to week 12, (this week), and I have watched and read the links and assignments from the learning modules. I have five pages of bookmarks on my Delicious account, and I have been working through them, reading them for relevancy and removing ones that don’t apply at all to my topic. I have been learning a lot about my topic and have found different directions to explore while developing my paper.
For my 'to do' list, I will read chapter’s 8 and 12 by Monday November 9, and have my outline, Presentation, and extra credit assignment 2 completed by November 9. For the week of November 10 (week 13) it looks like there is a journal assignment 13 and discussion 8, which I will hopefully have completed by November 16. After that I will continue to follow the weekly assignments when they are posted with due dates.

RJA 11c: Thesis Statement Check

http://lindseykaje.blogspot.com
http://meaganandersen.blogspot.com

RJA 11b: Visual Aids

Graphic showing the names of the major accounting firms that failed over the last few years.
Some type of graphic showing the amount of bankruptcies over the last 10 years
Some type of graphic/chart showing the amount of foreclosures over the last 10 years.
Graphic showing the names of the accounting standard, GAAP
A copy of a headline that says “recession”, maybe from a newspaper printed in late 2008 after President Bush officially announced that we are in a recession.

RJA 11a: Introduction

Government oversight over banks and other financial institutions is critical in preventing another recession, or worse, another Great Depression. Accounting standards must be changed as well, to allow for more honest and consistent financial reporting from companies. The American people have been losing jobs, losing their homes, having to file for bankruptcy, and losing their faith in the government because of the state of the economy over the last ten years. Companies have been able to change their financial statements and defraud the American people and the government has allowed it by changing the law’s regarding oversight. There should be government oversight of banking and financial institutions, and a new accounting standard should be implemented and enforced, to ensure that the American people and the Government are not defrauded by companies that hide profits and losses in accounting reports.

RJA 10b: Argument

Research question: Should there be government oversight of banks and financial industries, or would a new accounting standard be enough to stop a recession?
Answer/thesis/claim: There should be government oversight of banking and financial institutions, and a new accounting standard should be implemented and enforced, to ensure that the American people and the Government are not defrauded by companies that hide profits and losses in accounting reports.
Ethos: Government oversight over banks and financial institutions should be reinstated to control what banks are doing and how they are reporting financial gains and losses.
Would your audience find appeals based on ethos to be persuasive? Where and how will you demonstrate your credibility and authority as an author? I think my audience would respond to ethos as my argument. I will find sources written by experts in the field to back this up.
Pathos: Government oversight should be reinstated to spare the American people any future pain and stress from foreclosures, job losses, and bankruptcy.
Would your audience find appeals based on pathos to be persuasive? Where and how will you include appeals to the audience’s emotions? My audience might respond to pathos, but on a limited basis. A lot of people have been impacted emotionally by the economy over the last few years, but there still needs to be fact based evidence to back up my argument.
Logos:
Would your audience find appeals based on logos to be persuasive? Where and how will you appeal to your audience through logic and reasoning? I think my audience would respond to logos, its logic and reasoning, and everyone responds to a logical and reasonable argument.

RJA #10a: Thesis Statement

Research Question:
Should there be government oversight of banks and financial industries, or would a new accounting standard be enough to stop a recession?
Precise Claim:
There should be government oversight of banks and financial industries, and a new accounting standard would not be enough to stop a recession, although it would help to forecast a possible recession.
Reasons/blueprint:
Government oversight of banking and financial industries was created after the Great Depression in the New Deal, and it was created to make sure there was a committee that would oversee banks and create confidence in the American public that the government would not let another Great Depression happen.
Accounting reports help the government and other’s to recognize if a company is in danger of going bankrupt or if they are defrauding the public and investors. A new accounting standard that made companies more transparent to people reading those reports would help to identify signs and symptoms of a possible future recession.
Complete thesis statement:
There should be government oversight of banking and financial institutions, and a new accounting standard should be implemented and enforced, to ensure that the American people and the Government are not defrauded by companies that hide profits and losses in accounting reports.

RJA 9: Evaluation of Sources

(2008). Financial Crisis in America. Huntington: Nova Science Publishers.
The author reflects on what caused the Recession in America, if it was the mortgage crisis or 9/11 aftermath, or lending practices or accounting practices that took place off the books and bad balance sheets that were not reported. The author speculates if the current situation will be judged harsh enough to make new restrictions on accounting and reporting practices to lower incidences’ of losses. I think the intended audience is the general public with a financial understanding. This book is appropriate for my needs. The content source is opinion’s based on fact. The language is objective. I thought the coverage was comprehensive and I enjoyed reading it. I learned about different theories that I will probably come across while I’m writing my paper. The source is current, published in 2009.
Reutors. (2009, August 6). AIG break-up could mean $1 billion for Wall Street banks and lawyers. New York News, Traffic, Sports, Weather, Photos, Entertainment, and Gossip - NY Daily News. Retrieved November 5, 2009, from http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/08/06/2009-08-06_aig_.html
This article had an intended audience of the general public. The content was fact based, and it was explaining that AIG would be assisted in breaking the company apart by Wall Street Banks and Lawyers, as well as accounting company Ernst and Young, that are also getting money from the government. So these companies will be paid in two different ways from the downfall of AIG. There will be a conflict of interest when this happens. I do not think there was enough evidence offered to support the article. The language was objective, and I found the article to oversimplify the situation. The author did not use any other sources, and it was written in August, 2009. Although this article was interesting to read, I will not be using this article for my paper.
LEONARD, D. (2009, October 3). Off the Shelf - Recession, You Look Familiar - Review - NYTimes.com. The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Retrieved November 5, 2009, from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/business/economy/04shelf.html?_r=1
This article talks about how history repeats itself, and the signs of the recession that were present in the US for the last 10 years were also present in other countries that have suffered from recessions. The intended audience is the general public. The article seemed to be opinionated, but also based in fact, and the author has evidence and sound reason to support the stance. It offered evidence to support the facts, and it was interesting reading them. The language was objective, and there weren’t broad generalizations. Some of the information I read in this article I have heard about and read in other articles. The article is current, and I will be using this in my paper.
bandyk, m. (2009, June 29). Sarbanes-Oxley Reform Needed For Stimulus? - Capital Commerce (usnews.com). US News & World Report - Breaking News, World News, Business News, and America's Best Colleges - USNews.com. Retrieved November 6, 2009, from http://www.usnews.com/money/blogs/capital-commerce/2009/06/29/sarbanes-oxley-reform-needed-for-stimulus.html
This article talks about how revamping the Sarbanes-Oxley Act might help fix the economy. This has been a reoccurring them I have seen during my research, and I will be talking about it in my paper. This article’s audience would have to include people who are familiar with Sarbanes-Oxley, and who already have an opinion about it, as this article is attempting to build an argument for revamping it. The source of the article is opinion and although there is fact to base the opinions on, the facts weren’t supported very well. The author cites other’s in this article, and then expands off their ideas. I will use this in my paper, but only as a starting point for other articles.
IOMA - GAAP Changes. (n.d.). IOMA Home Page. Retrieved November 6, 2009, from http://www.ioma.com/issues/CPAPR/2009_8/1621322-1.html
This article talks about the new accounting standards. The language was objective and based in fact. I probably won’t use this article in my paper.
volpe, m. (2008, September 19). The Provocateur: Bank Deregulation and the Financial Meltdown. The Provocateur. Retrieved November 6, 2009, from http://theeprovocateur.blogspot.com/2008/09/bank-deregulation-and-financial.html
This article is a blog, written one year ago. This article is a personal blog, and is written using fact based arguments. The article is explaining how deregulation and required separation of financial institutions was based on what we learned from the Great Depression. It explains how the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 did away with the separation, which played a part in the financial situation we are in now. This supports a lot of research I have previously found, and I will be using this blog to help with history and information for my research paper. The author supports what he is writing with information supporting cites and referrals, which lends the article credibility.

Internet Research Project

I am using Kartoo, www.kartoo.com. It is a Meta search engine, which means it sends a search request to several other search engines, and then compiles the results in a list on its website. The strengths I see on the website are easy to manipulate “options” and the search results display. The options feature allows me to customize the website a little bit. There is a “sidebar” feature that will show information that is relevant to my search, and in the options section, I can change that sidebar feature to show several different things, from search trends, news, topics, and images, to games. I can also apply parental locks and change the layout of results on the options page. The display of the search results is also a strength of this website. The results can be laid out in several different ways, and the one I like the best is 3 results to a page, because it allows for easy scanning without being overwhelmed with information. The weaknesses I see on this site are that in the option screen there are empty buttons that don’t do anything. It appears that the site is a work in progress, and although it doesn’t affect the search results it is distracting. The search results support keyword and math searches, and are not case sensitive. When I was doing test searches, one of the results actually brought up my blog, but it didn’t display my blog image, so that is a limitation I found. There isn’t a way to sort the information, only change the display layout.

RJA #8c: Multimedia

Resource searched or tool used – Blinkx.com
Keywords used – government oversight, gaap, Sarbanes oxley, recession
Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches) - keyword search and math
Date of search – October 9, 2009
Number of hits – government oversight – 985; sarbanes oxley + recession – 84; government oversight + recession – 1,089
Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5) 3

Resource searched or tool used – videosurf.com
Keywords used - government oversight, gaap, Sarbanes oxley, recession
Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches) - keyword search and math
Date of search – October 9, 2009
Number of hits –government oversight and recession – 213, Sarbanes oxley and recession - 12
Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5) 3

RJA #8b: Social Media

Resource searched or tool used –blogpulse.com
Keywords used – GAAP, Government oversight, Sarbanes Oxley, Recession
Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches) keyword search and math
Date of search – October 8, 2009
Number of hits – gaap + recession – 189; sarbanes oxley + recession – 172;
Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5) 3

Resource searched or tool used – twingly.com
Keywords used - GAAP, Government oversight, Sarbanes Oxley, Recession
Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches) keyword search and math
Date of search – October 8, 2009
Number of hits – Sarbanes oxley and recession – 342;
Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5) 1

RJA #8a: Websites

Resource searched or tool used – meta search engines – dogpile.com
Keywords used - Sarbanes Oxley, GAAP, Recession, Government oversight
Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches) – keyword searches, math
Date of search – October 8, 2009
Number of hits - Sarbanes Oxley, GAAP, Recession, Government oversight – doesn’t list how many hits on Dogpile.com;
Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5) 3

Resource searched or tool used – Search Engine – Fazzle.com
Keywords used – Sarbanes Oxley, GAAP, Recession, Government oversight
Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches) – keyword searches, math
Date of search – October 8, 2009
Number of hits -Sarbanes Oxley – 1,500,000; GAAP – 1,510,000 ; recession – 4,500,000, government oversight – 7,300,000; gaap+recession – 310,000; sarbanes oxley+recession – 253,000
Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5) 5

Resource searched or tool used - multi search engines – leapfish.com
Keywords used - Sarbanes Oxley, GAAP, Recession, Government oversight
Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches) – keyword search, math
Date of search – October 8, 2009
Number of hits - Sarbanes Oxley, GAAP- 22,800; Sarbanes Oxley and GAAP – 22,700; Sarbanes Oxley and Recession – 16,600; government oversight and recession – 90,400
Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5) 5

Resource searched or tool used - directories – Odyssearch.com
Keywords used - Sarbanes Oxley, GAAP, Recession, Government oversight
Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches) keyword search and math
Date of search – October 8, 2009
Number of hits - Sarbanes Oxley – 36; GAAP, Recession, Government oversight
Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5) 1 – very irrelevant hits, a lot were not in English, and they were dated hits.

Resource searched or tool used – invisible web search tool – incywincy.com
Keywords used - Sarbanes Oxley, GAAP, Recession, Government oversight
Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches) – keyword search and math
Date of search – October 8, 2009
Number of hits - Sarbanes Oxley + GAAP – 1,866; Sarbanes Oxley + Recession-924; Government oversight and recession – 10,112
Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5) 4

RJA #7c: Field Research Plan

To conduct field research for my topic, I will try to interview the professor’s at Metro’s Business department, and the facilitators at Regis University. I am also going to try to interview people who work in the accounting field.

I will ask each of them the same questions: What do you hypothesis caused the recession we are in now?; did the lack of standardized accounting practices cause deception in the financial industry, which caused financial records to reflect assets and profits that weren’t there?; do you think the changes in banking deregulations cause the situation?; do you think the accounting practice of Market it to Market influenced the financial records of mortgage companies to reflect false profit?; when do you think the downward spiral toward a recession first started, and was there a “beginning” point or was it a culmination of events and practices that caused the recession?; do you believe the new accounting practices will stabilize the economy?

RJA #7b: Internet Research Tool Test

Resource searched - KartOO
Keywords used - GAAP changes
Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches) – English Web
Date of search – 10/5/09
Number of hits – several, I stopped counting after 15
Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5) – 5 (very relevant)


Resource searched - KartOO
Keywords used - Government Oversight of Banks
Search strategies used (including operators and types of searches) – English Web
Date of search – 10/5/09
Number of hits – several, I stopped counting after 15
Relevance of hits (on a scale of 1 to 5) – 5 (very relevant)

RJA #7a: Internet Research Tools

I used to use google.com as my favorite search engine. Then my old computer crashed, and I purchased a new computer that had Bing.com as its search engine. I love it! I can hold my mouse over the list of search results and can scan the articles for relevant information before I open them. And there are daily quizzes that I really enjoy clicking on. I still have igoogle as my home page when I load internet explorer, though, because I like being able to personalize my home page. My ISP Comcast used to have a nice home page, and I would use the news links for research, but they changed their home page format and I found it wasn’t as user friendly for searching.
www.bing.com
www.google.com

RJA #6c: Protopage

RJA #6b: Search Strings

Clinton or recession
NAFTA and recession
GAAP and recession
GAAP and changes
Accounting regulations + recession
Bankruptcy + foreclosures
Credit cards - mortgage crises

RJA #6a: Periodical Articles

Campbell, Terry, J. Interstate banking deregulation and the changing nature of bank mergers. Journal of Financial Research. March 22, 2005
Used Bing Search Engine, Keyword Bank Deregulation, Allbusiness, a D&B Company, www.allbusiness.com, accessed Sept 28, 2009

RJA #5c: Search String Check–

RJA #5b: Books

RJA #5a: Reference Articles

RJA #4c: Research Question Check

http://meaganandersen.blogspot.com/2009/09/rja-3c-developing-research-question.html

http://denahankins.blogspot.com/2009/09/rja-3.html

RJA# 4b: Search Strings

Clinton and recession
NAFTA and recession
GAAP and recession
GAAP and changes
Accounting regulations or recession
Bankruptcy and forclosures
Credit cards or mortgage crises

RJA #4a: Generating Keywords

Nafta
Deregulation
Bank deregulation
Re-related terms
Accounting standards
Gaap
FASB
Clinton Administration
Bankruptcy
Forclosure
Clinton Deregulation
NAFTA and job lossCredit Crisis

RJA #3c: Developing Research Question

Who would benefit from reading this?
What gave you the idea to write this?
When do you think a solution will be found for the economy?
Where will you be able to find material to write about?
How will you convince people that there is a correlation?
Why would anyone care about this?
Should there be government oversight of banks and financial industries, or would a new accounting standard be enough?
Would there have been an economic crisis if accounting standards had been different?

RJA #3b: Narrowing Research Topic

There is a lot of information on the internet about the ideas I had for research. I am overwhelmed with information at this point, but I am just beginning to wade through the articles that are out there. I may need to narrow it to the deregulation of the SEC only, or to the Accounting practices and how they will be changing.

RJA #3a: Exploring Research Topic

http://www.bicusa.org/en/Issue.10.aspx
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/jan-june08/investment_03-26.html
http://www.fasb.org/home
http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2008/2008-234.htm

RJA #2b: Research Topic

I would like to research if greed and materialism is the reason that the world is in the financial and economic crisis that it is now. The problem is, I don't know how to research greed and materialism on a world wide scale, or, even smaller, in the United States. Everything is motivated and influenced by money; even some people’s idea of spiritualism can be influenced by money and greed, but I don’t know how I would research that and prove it and remain objective. I will instead be researching if the change in government oversight of businesses financial records and the lack of a standard and logical accounting practice, something that all companies use, might have affected the downturn of our economy.

I already know a little about this topic, and I would like to stress I know VERY LITTLE. I believe there was a change in the government’s oversight of financial records in the late 1990’s or early 2000’s, and companies starting changing their financial records to reflect profits or losses that hadn’t actually transpired. I also know that there is a change in the accounting standards that will be implemented worldwide in the next few years.

What I don’t know about this topic could fill a research paper, and hopefully will! I want to find out when and how the government oversight changed, and how businesses were able to go for so long with false financial reports. I also want to look at if there is a correlation between the false financial statements and people filing for bankruptcy and the rising number of foreclosures. For instance, I wonder if credit card companies were saying they were making a profit, when in actuality people were using their cards, then not paying them off and filling for bankruptcy, which would show a loss rather than a profit. In a similar fashion, banks were showing a profit for having thousands of mortgages, but people weren’t actually paying the mortgages, so it was a loss, not a profit. I also want to explore if and how the new accounting standards will help stabilize the economy.

RJA #2a: Possible Topics

Credit cards
Bankruptcy and Forclosures
Mortgages
Personal Savings
Budgets
Money management
Education
Cost of Living vs. Pay
Greed and Materialism
Money as the Root of all Evil
Standardized Accounting Practices
Government Oversight

I am researching if the lack of Government Oversight and standarized accounting practices have led to the economic crisis we are in.

RJA #2c: Delicious Account

Here is the link to my Delicious account.

Research Journal Assignment #1: Areas of Academic Interest

Credit cards
Bankruptcy
Forclosures
Mortgages
Personal Savings
Budgets
Money management
Education
Cost of Living vs. Pay