01737cas a2200241 a 4500 AALejournalIMF016445 230101c9999 xx r poo 0 0eng d 5.00 USD 9781513597492 1018-5941 BD-DhAAL BD-DhAAL Irwin, Timothy. The Whole Elephant : A Proposal for Integrating Cash, Accrual, and Sustainability-Gap Accounts / Timothy Irwin. Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2015. 1 online resource (24 pages) IMF Working Papers <strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required <strong>On-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students Although the budget deficit is much discussed in political debate and economic research, there is no agreement on how it should be measured. There are at least four options, which can be called the cash deficit, the financial deficit, the full-accrual deficit, and the comprehensive deficit. Each is informative, but each has problems of relevance or reliability. Some are more vulnerable to manipulation involving assets and liabilities that are unrecognized in the underlying accounting, others to manipulation involving the mismeasurement of recognized assets and liabilities. Governments should publish all four in a form that reveals their interrelationships. Mode of access: Internet IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2015/261 Full text available on IMF http://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/2015/261/001.2015.issue-261-en.xml IMF e-Library