Be careful what you ask for: Is fair value accounting really fair?

The World Economy is going through a true revolution in financial reporting. Rather than show assets on corporate balance sheets at their original historical cost, companies are being required to determine, and then report, what those assets are worth today. The current term for this new wave of financial reporting is ‘Fair Value’ accounting. Fair Value reporting is being pushed in the name of transparency. In the author's opinion Fair Value accounting is likely to be neither relevant nor reliable, two of the requirements for financial reporting.