Why does the UK get so hung up about 'prudence' in accounting? After all, frequent mention of the word by Gordon Brown failed to keep public finances sound.

It may even have lulled us into a false sense of security. That is the danger of a word that implies that a set of numbers can do investors' thinking for them. Yet some UK-based leaders of the investment profession and EU MEPs hanker after the reinstatement of prudence as a fundamental concept in financial reporting.