Pros and Cons of Capitalism and Socialism Research Paper

Pros and Cons of Capitalism and Socialism - Research Paper Example Capitalism is the idea whereby the possession of capital i.e. the means of production are usually owned and determined by private individuals with little or almost no interception from the government. The entire world can be considered to be operating under the capitalist system. According to the Capitalist system a small proportion of the entire world’s population controls the resources of the world. This leads them to dictate their terms and accumulate and increase their respective wealth and fortune. Many commentators consider this to be a major flaw of Capitalism. Commentators are of the view that the working classes within the economy are negatively exploited as a result of this undue power. Exercising such undue power usually results in Monopolies within the economy and these monopolies lead to an increased benefit being gained by charging higher prices for different goods and services. Except this, there are other negative aspects of Capitalism which include discriminat ive distribution of wealth amongst the economy whereby some people are favored over others. Proponents supporting the Capitalism system consider the economic system to increase economic growth of a society (Hyman, 2010). Socialism on the other hand is a system that has increased government interception with respect to the use of capital/ resources and the income is distributed amongst the people as desired by the government. Advocates favoring socialism consider the system to be a proper distributor of wealth and income amongst the public/economy. People favoring Socialism are of the view that the system has always led to an equal allocation of responsibilities. The negative aspect of Socialism is the fact that the government intervention may lead to many different factors such as decreased growth, reduced flexibility and unclear price signals. These unclear price signals may not be good enough to perform economic calculations and predict the uncertain market trends. Socialism has a lways been pointed out for its budget-constrained attribute. This lack in budgets leads to reduced innovation and growth because of reduced incentive for the people (Hyman, 2010). Economies around the World have always been found to operate under the Socialist economic system. Those economies with a view that they are following the Capitalist economy are merely facing a delusion as there is not a single country in the current era that operates without government’s intervention. Karl Marx’s idea of socialism was to hand the power to the working class and by means of such power; the working class would be able to derive their respective pay scale. According to Karl Marx, the consciousness of the working class would only be altered by a change in their working conditions such as pay scales and for a successful implementation of a proper socialism system; the capitalist system should be over-thrown i.e. possession of resources should not be confined to a limited minority ( Hyman, 2010). Proponents around the world are of the view that the socialism view has not been properly implemented to gain proper advantages from it. On the contrary, the existing system has led to a chaos within the global economy resulting in different financial and economic issues around the globe. A documentary released by some Greek theorists suggests that the economic system wrongfully portrayed as a socialist system has led to the Greek Financial Crisis. The documentary is known as ‘

Accounting Ethics Can Make the Difference Reasons why Morals are Key Research Paper

Accounting Ethics Can Make the Difference Reasons why Morals are Key Components - Research Paper Example They don’t trust the financial statements, they don’t trust the audits, they don’t trust the bond rating agencies.† Indeed, contemporary profession of accountancy has been continuously wrestling with how to improve ethics in the profession. In the wake of prominent accounting scandals such as Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, and Arthur Andersen, the accounting profession in general and accounting ethics in the main has received both public’s and regulator’s glare. In 2002 the U.S. Congress responded to this dilemma with enactment of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act. However, when it seemed the regulatory field for adherence to accounting standards and ethics had been prepared, the world witnessed yet another crisis of accounting ethics triggered by unnoticed 50 billion Ponzi scheme invented and managed by Bernard Madoff for almost twenty years. Because the accounting profession is the gatekeeper of the financial affairs of the business community, it must strive t o cultivate and maintain ethical standards and principles that must not be compromised. Ethical sensitivity is paramount in conducting business honorably and fairly. Business communities around the globe hold accountants in high esteem and expect them to be beyond reproach, ethically. The primary existing paradigm related to accounting ethics is based on the premise that individuals make ethical choices because of individual integrity. This may be partially true; however, ethical or unethical accounting practices usually reflect the values, attitudes, beliefs, and behavior patterns of the organizational culture (True & Pelton, 2005). Early ethical and moral theorists have gone to great lengths to understand human behaviors and to define what behaviors constitute good morals. Some people believe that morality is contingent on environmental and situational circumstances. Dawson (2005) asserted that the character traits defining the ethical nature of the business are embedded in the social values of its culture. Dawson (2005) also believed that businesses with a strong rational and bureaucratic culture, such as financial institutions, have difficulty promoting individual ethical behavior beyond the rules in the absence of a compensating culture of social values such as trust and honesty. Businesses that thrive on the quality of human relationships internally and externally have more opportunity for building such a culture to promote ethical behavior. Those businesses with high employee turnover and a higher percentage of part-time/casual workers with low intrinsic valuation of work have difficulty sustaining a work ethic conductive to ethical behavior. Thus, ethical behavior is as much an organizational issue as it is a personal issue. Further, in some instances, ethical behavior is learned behavior that is based on formal educational instruction and personal experiences/modeling. According to position formed by Duska and Duska (2005), "accountants have a number of ethical responsibilities, to themselves, their families, and their profession as well as to the clients and company for which they work" (p. 30). Practically, most of accounting crises occurred in past primarily due to CEOs not adhering to the rules and regulations of the accounting practices as well as the U.S. Security Exchange Commission requirements. According to Healy-Burress (2010), "a professional code of conduct explicitly states the expectations of behavior and character for the members of the profession" (p.57). Therefore, a professional code of ethics that is followed by participants represents a defining feature of a profession, and the major document which formulates the ethical conduct of accounting