The task of accounting for the missing was left largely to outsiders.

NEWYORKER: Bring Up the Bodies

Speaking on CNN Friday morning, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said the president had appointed a separate task force to review the accounting standards issues.

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Enron was allowed to do this because a task force of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) could not decide how energy contracts should be accounted for, explains Douglas Carmichael, the Wollman distinguished professor of accounting at Baruch College.

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