I'm of the opinion that the growth of Western accounting and financing (along with Western political systems that frequently limited the power of rules) is what enabled Europeans to explore and profitably trade all over the world. It was the ability of merchants and small investors to risk money in exchange for a chance at a huge windfall that supported the explosive growth of private capital, entrepreneurs, and non-governmental society.
Having said that, Islamic finance is quite interesting. Today, there's very little EFFECTIVELY different between Islamic finance and Western finance. Take for example interest. Islam forbids interest. So agreements are structured with built-in fees, certain ownership claims or agreements, etc., but the end result is pretty much the same thing.
Much like how rabbis can certify something as kosher (and getting rabbinical approval in Israel is a BIG and highly corrupt business), transactions can get Islamic certification without really changing that much. You just need the stamp of approval.
Malaysia has profited hugely from becoming a center of Islamic banking.
Honestly, American accounting standards (GAP) seem to very rooted in what amounts to Austrian Economics. Everything is about that point of sale and you can't just go about re-valuing it without selling it.
Economic Liberalism really does seem to be the core of American prosperity, and you can see how IFERS (Europe's Accounting Standards) have been doing everything in the universe to completely fuck themselves up.
I'm of the opinion that the growth of Western accounting and financing (along with Western political systems that frequently limited the power of rules) is what enabled Europeans to explore and profitably trade all over the world. It was the ability of merchants and small investors to risk money in exchange for a chance at a huge windfall that supported the explosive growth of private capital, entrepreneurs, and non-governmental society.
Having said that, Islamic finance is quite interesting. Today, there's very little EFFECTIVELY different between Islamic finance and Western finance. Take for example interest. Islam forbids interest. So agreements are structured with built-in fees, certain ownership claims or agreements, etc., but the end result is pretty much the same thing.
Much like how rabbis can certify something as kosher (and getting rabbinical approval in Israel is a BIG and highly corrupt business), transactions can get Islamic certification without really changing that much. You just need the stamp of approval.
Malaysia has profited hugely from becoming a center of Islamic banking.
Honestly, American accounting standards (GAP) seem to very rooted in what amounts to Austrian Economics. Everything is about that point of sale and you can't just go about re-valuing it without selling it.
Economic Liberalism really does seem to be the core of American prosperity, and you can see how IFERS (Europe's Accounting Standards) have been doing everything in the universe to completely fuck themselves up.