John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and the Barbary Pirates: an Illustration of Relevnat Costs for Decision Making
John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and the Barbary Pirates:
An Illustration of Relevant Costs for Decision-Making
Dennis Caplan
Iowa State University
Most Recent Update: August 7, 2002
John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and the Barbary Pirates:
An Illustration of Relevant Costs for Decision-Making
ABSTRACT
The concepts of incremental cost, opportunity cost, sunk cost, and cost allocation are identified and discussed in the context of early U.S. foreign policy. The case is derived from an authentic exchange of views between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams on how the United States should protect its merchant shipping against the Barbary Pirates. Both men compare the cost of waging war against the pirates with the cost of paying ransom for captured U.S. seamen and bribes to protect future shipping. Adams quantifies the opportunity cost associated with not taking any action against the pirates. Jefferson articulates an incremental costing argument, on the assumption that the U.S. should build a navy regardless of U.S. policy towards the Barbary States. The case constitutes a brief introduction to management accounting by illustrating different cost concepts, and also lends itself to a discussion of the historical origins of management accounting.
The beginning of wisdom in using accounting for decision-making is a clear understanding that the relevant costs and revenues are those which as between the alternatives being considered are expected to be different in the future. It has taken accountants a long time to grasp this essential point. (R. H. Parker (1969, 15)
BACKGROUND
The Barbary Pirates Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the North African Barbary States of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli engaged in piracy of European merchant shipping. The Barbary pirates routinely captured and confiscated ships and cargo, and enslaved or ransomed their crews and passengers. England, France and Spain entered into
An Illustration of Relevant Costs for Decision-Making
Dennis Caplan
Iowa State University
Most Recent Update: August 7, 2002
John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and the Barbary Pirates:
An Illustration of Relevant Costs for Decision-Making
ABSTRACT
The concepts of incremental cost, opportunity cost, sunk cost, and cost allocation are identified and discussed in the context of early U.S. foreign policy. The case is derived from an authentic exchange of views between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams on how the United States should protect its merchant shipping against the Barbary Pirates. Both men compare the cost of waging war against the pirates with the cost of paying ransom for captured U.S. seamen and bribes to protect future shipping. Adams quantifies the opportunity cost associated with not taking any action against the pirates. Jefferson articulates an incremental costing argument, on the assumption that the U.S. should build a navy regardless of U.S. policy towards the Barbary States. The case constitutes a brief introduction to management accounting by illustrating different cost concepts, and also lends itself to a discussion of the historical origins of management accounting.
The beginning of wisdom in using accounting for decision-making is a clear understanding that the relevant costs and revenues are those which as between the alternatives being considered are expected to be different in the future. It has taken accountants a long time to grasp this essential point. (R. H. Parker (1969, 15)
BACKGROUND
The Barbary Pirates Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the North African Barbary States of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli engaged in piracy of European merchant shipping. The Barbary pirates routinely captured and confiscated ships and cargo, and enslaved or ransomed their crews and passengers. England, France and Spain entered into