Or take the FASB's Statement 2, which requires companies to deduct research and development expenditures from income in the period in which they are made.

FORBES: Why Everybody's Jumping On The Accountants These Days

For companies with already high payout ratios, this can be problematic, as a higher percentage of earnings paid to shareholders may crimp capital expenditures or research and development commitments that are needed to keep the business growing.

FORBES: Buy Stocks That Pay, And Can Keep Paying

Put a 25 percent tax rate on individuals and corporations and see how it comes out in terms of personal consumption expenditures and corporate spending for plant and equipment, even research and development.

FORBES: This Is The Way The World Ends