Sid writes of what he sees as our hugely negative times It's technically no longer the "dog days of summer," since that refers to the period, roughly, July 3 to August 11. Technicalities aside, these days (it seems to at least one observer) little if anything is coming up roses. It's a hugely negative time for not only Americans, but for peoples around the world. Dog days, to be sure. I swear we'll look back on this last year and scratch our heads at the emphasis on corporate transparency—in annual reports to shareholders of publicly held companies, if not among politicians. Transparency—that's a high-falutin' way of saying "honesty." Wouldn't you think that just came naturally? Ethics, high morals, forthrightness—didn't chief executives carry that positive "baggage" when they took the job? (The oldster Phil Harris said it best: "Say ace, ace, ace, ace—so's I understand." In other words, one doesn't have to couch h-o-n-e-s-t-y in a modern bit of fabricated phraseology.) What convinces me these are hugely negative times? First, only 212 annual reports for the year 2001 were sent me. Among 1993 reports, I saw, and analyzed in depth, 762—three-and-a-half times more. That's not a good sign, the falloff in number sent me. Neither was the overall quality of reports submitted, many of them simply down-and-dirty rags. Honesty, perceived among 80.7% of CEOs (in the 2001 annual reports I received, of course; if I don't get them, I can't analyze 'em, obviously), is at its lowest ebb since monitoring that key element began—among 1988 reports. More reports lost control of size; 17 contained 100 or more pages, which to me borders on the obscene. That is, they're obscenely long. With distortions omitted, 2001 annuals averaged 41.5 pages in length—back to the 1983 level. (The Financial Executives Institute would have us believe the length of annuals has soared out of control; only thing out of control is the FEI's leadership, which labors constantly to denigrate the key corporate communiqué.) More of those to sign up for the 14th annual International Annual Report Conference, to be held Sept. 11-13 in Chicago, have pooped out at the last minute. Eight or 10 East Coasters chose not to attend, most with feeble excuses ("You're not gonna believe this, but I plumb forgot I promised to coach a bunch of 9-10 year olds in ice hockey; darn!") And more—despite Cato Communications' longstanding "no refunds" policy (you think I'm going to let rich corporations jerk me around, first register for my conference or what have you...paying...then demanding their money back; not!)—ask, not so timidly, for a refund. (It's a wonder subscribers don't demand their money back after receiving a year's issues of my monthly Newsletter on Annual Reports.) I could go on and on, but you get the point. I'm convinced this will go down in history as "The Year of Great Depression." (Not "the" Great Depression; just "Great Depression.") You may quote me.

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