Breakdowns of Accountability by Baker - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The paper "Breakdowns of Accountability by Baker" is a brilliant example of an essay on finance and accounting. Accountability is a term that goes beyond the financial accounting aspect, into requiring a moral and compassionate angle of caring for the other (Baker, 2). The fact that there were many people who perished during the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina in the New Orleans State of the USA is an indication that the moral aspect of accounting is lacking. Institutional racism was a major contributor to the deaths that were accounted for, considering the fact that most of the affected families were black, old and poor, thus the relevant state and government officials did not take adequate care of the victims (Baker, 10). Rather than the application of the compassionate/moral accountability during such a catastrophe, the officials responsible applied the calculative accountability, which then made them neglect many victims in horrendous conditions, to avoid accounting for them financially (Baker, 3). Despite the accurate predictions that the Hurricane Katrina would be devastating, both President Bush’s administration and the local authority did not take precautionary measures to address the warning until after 36 hours, when many people had died, hundreds of thousands displaced and property worth hundreds of billion US dollars had been destroyed.

Viewpoint
Institutional racism accounts for the huge damage that occurred in New Orleans State during Hurricane Katrina, merely because the state and national government officials failed to give adequate professional and humanitarian services to the affected families because of their race and social status. While financial accounting is essential for ensuring the prudent usage of resources, it is wise and humane to go beyond the financial accountability during disasters and engage moral and companionate accountability that entails offering professional services to save lives and property, without due regard to the financial cost implications.

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