[OPE-L:1451] Re: Accounting History


John Ernst (ernst@PIPELINE.COM)
Sat, 09 Oct 1999 02:48:38


Julian,

In my attempt to get a handle on the history of accounting I talked
with Tony Tinker who was or is one of the editors of the journal
you cited in your previous post. (Critical Perspectives in Accounting)
Tinker suggested I talk to Richard Brief who at the time was teaching
at NYU. Brief's efforts in this area included an edited text

The Late Nineteenth Century Debate Over Depreciation, Capital
and Income
(Arno Press, 1976)

The text contains reprints of 19th Century articles as well as
a 1970 piece by Brief entitled "Depreciation Theory in Historical
Perspective." In that essay Brief comments on the 1890 work of
O. G. Ladelle -- "The Calculation of Depreciation" -- which Brief
calls "the most outstanding contribution to depreciation theory
in the nineteenth century."

Brief states:
"The general depreciation method derived by Ladelle is almost identical
to the so-called present value method of calculating depreciation. This
method has been given other names such as the annuity method, compound
interest method, economic depreciation, etc. ..."

Ladelle's piece is reprinted in the text.

John



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