The writer, a Los Angeles freelancer and former Detroit News business reporter, writes a blog, Starkman Approved . This column first appeared in his blog.

By Eric Starkman

Wall Street Journal reporter Jonathan Weil has a history of spotting accounting rot before it blows up. He was the first reporter to question Enron’s finances, and I recently posted about Weil hammering private equity’s “fishy accounting.” Weil’s latest target: Ford Motor Co.

Weil this week called out Ford’s accounting legerdemain to justify its juicy dividends. Depending on the math, Ford’s payout yield is 5.2% — 6.4% if you include the company’s supplemental dividends . Either way, both figures are more than double the 2.5% consumer cyclical average of Ford’s peer group.

Ford uses what it c

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