Answer:
Reliability over relevance
Explanation:
The historical cost principle states that assets must be recorded at purchase cost, disregarding any change in their market value. E.g. you purchased a land lot 10 years ago for $100,000 and now it is worth $500,000. It must be recorded at $100,000 since that was its original purchase cost.
Accounting tries to be as exact as possible, and if the carrying values started to change every period or even month by month because the accountant believed that the market value changed, then it would be a mess. Accountancy is not supposed to be a game of guessing, it is supposed to be as exact and reliable as possible.
