A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR ENGINEERING ECONOMICS

摘要

Students learning to solve engineering economics problems a century ago were instructed in the use of tools that reduced the time required for their solution. Today's widespread availability of financial calculators begs the question of whether it's time to replace the tools of the past. Financial functions available in many calculators and incorporated into spreadsheet software ease the computational burden that gave rise to Tables of time-value of money ratios. Spreadsheets offer the additional benefit of a structured framework ideal for forecasting engineering project economics. This paper continues the dialog, Peterson et al (2005), exploring the need for a new approach to engineering economics education. Two issues are addressed herein: 1. Building financial models with spreadsheets promotes financial literacy and 2. Factor Notation needs to be updated to utilize the capabilities built into today's ubiquitous financial functions.