One of my professors, explaining why the law should prevent banks from charging whatever they want to accountholders who overdraw their checking accounts, said in class that “everyone overdraws their account sometimes.” I disagreed; I didn’t, and most of my friends didn’t.
Today’s Oregonian reports that WorldCom says it overstated profits by $74.4 billion (yes, with a B) in two years, because certain assets are worth $60 billion less than WorldCom had said they were, and because “accounting irregularities” (the “irreconciliable differences” of the business world) had added at least $10 billion to profits.
So if an organization as large and sophisticated as WorldCom can be $74 billion off the mark in just two years, a consumer can be excused for missing by $50 every now and then.