Legislation is needed to prevent corporations putting most forms of intangible capital on their balance sheets.

Intangible Capital (Published by Maxima)

High Amount of Good Will In particular, the Fed said it was rejecting the bid by the Bank of New York because the resulting institutions would have very high levels of so-called intangible capital, particularly good will.

Nonetheless, broadening the NIPA investment definition to include education and R&D would be difficult because there is no consensus on which expenditures should be included or how to measure the depreciation and contribution to output of intangible capital.

They would do more than just reclassify R & D. In a recent research paper, "Intangible Capital and Economic Growth," they agree with Ms. Okubo's team that formal, scientific research and development should be categorized as capital investment rather than as ordinary expenses.