Assessing inflation

Equations (9-59), (9-60), (9-61), and (9-62) may be used as they stand to assess expenditure on energy-conservation measures since a constant amount of energy is saved in each year subsequent to the capital outlay. However, the annual cash flows Acf corresponding to the energy savings remain constant only if there is no inflation or if the money values are corrected to their purchasing power at the time of the capital expenditure. 

We notice in particular that inflation does not affect quoted interest rates when assessing present values of cost of capital. It must, however, be taken into account in assessing the interest rate on the dividend which will be expected by investors. 

To estimate the future cost of a plant some prediction has to be made of the future annual rate of inflation. This can be based on the extrapolation of one of the published indices, tempered by the engineer s own assessment of what the future may hold. 

It s fairly easy to assess your current financial condition. However, it becomes more difficult the further into the future you must look. There are a number of unpredictable factors to consider the rate of inflation, changes in tax laws, your health, how long you will live, return on investments, health care costs, and changes in Social Security benefits. 

The beauty of the mercury manometer is that you can assess its accuracy by simply looking at it. If the mercury meniscus is at zero when there is no pressure in the cuff and the column moves smoothly with inflation and deflation it is accurate and can be used as the gold standard for pressure measurement. All other devices must be calibrated against a... 

Without reference to a particular HTGR, an input parameter of USD 30/MWt-h was used for the cost of nuclear heat was. Electricity cost was set based on a 2008 price of USD 75/MWe-h. The H2A modelling tool, as published, is based on an assumption that all costs and the selling price have the same rate of inflation. However, for the Shaw assessments, energy costs are projected to rise more rapidly than general inflation, and so a modification to the H2A model was been made to add this analysis capability. For the analysis, real escalation, over and above any inflation, is included at 1%/yr over the plant life for the electric power bought or sold. The assumed reactor outlet temperature for evaluating component costs and process efficiencies was 950°C. 

The issue of measurement errors has received considerable attention in the field of epidemiology. This is because measurement errors influence the estimates of association between exposure and disease and can obscure or inflate the true exposure-response relationship. Therefore, the accuracy of exposure assessment should be an integral element of any etiological epidemiological study and needs to be reviewed before final conclusions can be drawn. 

OTA s approach to R D cost assessment relied on a detailed analysis of the validity of the Hansen and DiMasi studies. First, OTA examined the validity of the methods used to estimate each component of R D costs (cash outlays, project time profiles, and success rates). Second, OTA tested the consistency of the resulting estimates with corroborative studies. Third, OTA examined whether the rate of increase in real (i.e., inflation-adjusted) R D cost implied by the two studies is consistent with data on trends in major cost drivers, such as the number of subjects of clinical trials, biomedical research personnel costs, and animal research costs. 

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