Under German accounting the producer of an intangible asset like a film must treat the production costs as an expense.

FORBES: Teutonic Tinsel

Jenni Williams of Jag told the BBC that Zimbabwe's white farmers accepted that land must be redistributed, but not at the expense of production.

BBC: Mugabe 'jeopardises' lives of millions

Texas has invested heavily in wind power but not at the expense of oil production.

WSJ: Review & Outlook: A Tale of Two Oil States

There are set-up costs that make per-unit expense lower for large production runs than for short runs.

FORBES: Art and the Economics of Production to Order, for Inventory, or Something In Between

Now, under new rules adopted in June by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, they'll have to amortize the production costs over no more than ten years and immediately expense the marketing (which can cost as much as making the film).

FORBES: Goodwill For All

The one that is raging in the PC business is led by Dell, which has the lowest production costs and is determined to boost its market share at the expense of its rivals.

ECONOMIST: They just don��t get IT | The

All is at a delicate equilibrium, until the owner feels compelled to give in to a firmly worded request from the retailer for an additional discount, or a demand to air-freight, at manufacturer's expense, some boxes of shirts that suffered a two-week production delay and now won't be accepted by the retailer if they're any later than they already are.

WSJ: Business Asia: Letter from a Bangladesh Factory