cost-benefit analysis Archives – Decision Fish: Decide For Yourself

Q. Who Cares About The Future?

Brett F. Whysel — Sun, 18 Aug 2019 19:16:10 +0000

A. Not us humans, that’s for sure.. Any objective view of the state of our economy, politics, technology and even our own day-to-day behavior provides loads of evidence that we are living for the moment. We don’t save enough for our retirement, our planet continues to warm and our economy gets more unequal because we ... Read more

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Seven Good Reasons NOT to Save

Brett F. Whysel — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 19:06:21 +0000

You’re saving too much…said no financial expert ever. It’s America Saves Week, which is all about saving more. If you’re in your twenties, you’ll be told to save ten to 15 percent of your income. Older? You’ll be advised to save 20-30 percent or more! At the same time, one-third of Americans have saved precisely ... Read more

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How to Make a Qualitative Decision

Brett F. Whysel — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 16:52:25 +0000

Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) is a decision process that makes you put a number—usually dollars—on the costs and benefits of every alternative. One chooses the alternative that has the greatest total benefit net of total cost. We can estimate the value of hard costs like construction, opportunity costs like alternative uses of money as well as benefits like improved ... Read more

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Can One Become Great at Decision-Making?

Brett F. Whysel — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 15:59:52 +0000

Our decisions, and the actions they lead to, make us who we are. In that sense, decisions are fundamental to our identities, our humanity and even the future of our planet. But what is a good decision and how do we get great at making them? I want to share with you my answers to ... Read more

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How a Finance Guy Looks at Exercising, Inoculations and Fruit for Dessert

Brett F. Whysel — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 18:56:24 +0000

When I exercise, get a check-up, get my flu shot or skip dessert (too rarely), I do it because I’m supposed to. I have a vague impression that the cost, pain or other inconvenience I experience today should be more than offset by savings or other benefits in the future. One thing I’ve never done, which ... Read more

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Solar Power in New York: A Foggy View?

Brett F. Whysel — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 16:46:33 +0000

I have always been an ardent fan of solar power, ever since that balsa wood solar powered toy boat I built in elementary school. Free, unlimited and clean power would change the world if and when it can made practical. As I was preparing for a series of lectures on Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) for the ... Read more

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Why We Chose a College With Massively Negative Return on Investment

Brett F. Whysel — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 10:00:37 +0000

My family recently faced a bit of drama when my daughter was accepted to both a great state school and a wonderful, but much more expensive, private school . Naturally, my daughter strongly preferred the latter. As a finance guy with what I’d like to think is a disciplined approach to decision-making, how could I ... Read more

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