Oh, that scamp! Trump truthed this yesterday:
This isn’t the first time he’s shared this idea. He tweeted something very similar seven years ago:
His August 2018 tweet followed a June 2018 essay in Wall Street Journal penned by JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Oracle of Omaha Warren Buffett that said the big ballers find quarterly earnings estimates to be too short-sighted to be useful. In “Short-Termism Is Harming the Economy,” they wrote:
Every generation of Americans has a responsibility to leave behind a stronger, more prosperous society than the one it found. The nation’s greatest achievements have always derived from long-term investments. In both national policy and business, effective long-term strategy drives economic growth and job creation.
For public companies, these same principles are true. That’s why today, together with Business Roundtable, an association of nearly 200 chief executive officers from major U.S. companies, we are encouraging all public companies to consider moving away from providing quarterly earnings-per-share guidance. In our experience, quarterly earnings guidance often leads to an unhealthy focus on short-term profits at the expense of long-term strategy, growth and sustainability.
…
The pressure to meet short-term earnings estimates has contributed to the decline in the number of public companies in America over the past two decades. Short-term-oriented capital markets have discouraged companies with a longer term view from going public at all, depriving the economy of innovation and opportunity. Fewer public companies has also meant fewer opportunities for retail investors to create wealth through their 401ks and individual retirement accounts.
Further down they clarify that they didn’t actually mean to suggest that we should throw quarterly reporting out the window, just in case that wasn’t clear:
Our views on quarterly earnings forecasts should not be misconstrued as opposition to quarterly and annual reporting. Transparency about financial and operating results is an essential aspect of U.S. public markets, and we support being open with shareholders about actual financial and operational metrics. U.S. public companies will continue to provide annual and quarterly reporting that offers a retrospective look at actual performance so that the public, including shareholders and other stakeholders, can reliably assess real progress.
Some fun comments in the 163 of them left on that old article. Just a few (inclusion below does not equal an endorsement of opinion):
Then there’s this one that aged like the finest of wines given the state of outsourcing in the year 2025:
We’ll let you know if this goes anywhere.
I assume the AICPA is actively opposing this because they are focused on ensuring the quality (and quantity) of financial reporting and keeping their members gainfully employed.
Honestly, this isn’t the worst idea Trump has ever had. I like it a lot more than his idea to deport my non-violent, law-abiding gardener.
That was my thought too. If this actually goes anywhere the AICPA and Big 4 lobbyists (is there a difference? 🤔) will be working overtime to ensure it doesn’t happen.
Gotta keep up
those billable hoursthat quality!Oh, I don’t know. One thing the AICPA hasn’t seemed to be very interested in lately is helping CPAs and the accounting profession.