A Possibilitarian History of Price Change Accounting in the UK: 1971–1985

This paper offers a ‘possibilitarian’ analysis of the history of price change accounting

in the UK, exploring how events might have turned out differently at a number of key nodal points.

It argues that a stable current cost accounting regime could have been established significantly

before SSAP16 was in fact adopted or, alternately, that the retreat from SSAP16 could have been

managed in a way that would have maintained compliance with current cost accounting. Had a

substantial period of widespread compliance within a stable regime eventuated, a quite different

dynamic might have emerged, including significant user pressure to maintain current cost accounting,

thereby underpinning the regime and leading to its long-term survival.