Keeping the saga of "Washington Consensus" in mind, it might be worth thinking of the current "Accounting Consensus," identifying its main elements, examining whether it is better grounded in facts than its celebrated predecessor was, assessing its implications for accounting practice and education, and rethinking what we should and should not do, before accountants and accounting teachers snap to attention on orders from authorities. Civil servants, politicians, experts, and academics are all susceptible to errors of judgment. Our only protection is to try to minimize the frequency and impact of such errors by thinking hard and debating the issues in the community before taking major policy steps. Perhaps it is fortunate that this debate seems to be starting up, and regulators would be well advised not to act precipitously.2
An examination of the elements of the current accounting consensus shows that most of it is built on questionable foundations. I shall also argue that, if pursued by the accounting profession and educators, it will bring harm to the quality of accounting education, our ability to attract and prepare talented young men and women for the profession, and will further endanger the place of accounting education in our universities. Each educator should think what monopoly standardization of accounting and auditing have done, and may do to accounting education and the profession, and decide whether moving further down this road will help us serve our students and society better.