From Prof Mike Page.

Calls for the suspension of marking to market and fair value rules should be supported, not because the rules were the cause of the crash, but because they were the cause of the bubble that preceded it. In bending the knee before the illusory power of the market, accounting standard setters have ignored the unintended consequences. Marking to market was an invitation for operators in financial markets to make up numbers and pay themselves accordingly. Enron was a warning of what could happen. We know market prices are highly variable and accounting standard setters should now acknowledge that the role of accounting is not to mimic market prices but to provide a more reliable alternative.