Could one classify GAAP is the ultimate accounting shenanigan? To be more constructive, however, let's ask, as a user (not producer) of accounting information, how GAAP might change to reflect the increasing gap over time (i.e., before the market collapse) between current book measures of equity and market values.

Do the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which are common elsewhere in the world, do any better with treating intangibles? This issue is very current, since FASB and IFSB, its international counterpart, have a joint project to look into harmonizing the standards. Is the SEC likely to improve matters?