You are browsing the archives of Finance.

“Yes we can.” “The change we need.” “Too liberal.” “Spread the wealth.” “Lower taxes.” “Drill, baby, drill.” All of these were “sound bites” from the 2008 elections. People make very important decisions, decisions that should require cognitive research and careful deliberations, (like choosing a President) based on easily recalled “sound bites” such as these. Have [...]

The current financial crisis is often described with sound bites such as “Executive Bail Out,” “Wall Street Bail Out,” “Credit Markets Collapse,” or “Failed Economic Problems.” None of these labels or sound bites helps the average person understand what is happening and, more importantly, how it affects them. Granted there are many pieces to this puzzle, but the one that may impact the average person the quickest is the collapse of the credit market.

Financial calculators and simple illustrations are one-sided solutions. All financial problems and solutions occur within the total financial situation of a household. Financial calculators and simple financial illustrations only consider a limited set of factors – just the factors that are relevant to the particular calculation. A cash flow analysis considers not only the benefits of the solution, but also the costs of the solution.