Stu.. you problem killer ( hopefully no one reads the whole thread before trying to figure it out ) but you are right it does seem that is how not just governments but big business run their books now days and probably one reason the world is in an economic panic right now.

I remember doing this ( or something very similar) in a problem solving class I had in High school many moons ago. My calculus teacher laughed at every wrong answer and so did the rest of the class once they knew the correct one.