The core concepts in finance are simple and intuitive. What makes the subject challenging is that it is often difficult for a novice to distinguish between these core ideas and other intuitively appealing approaches that, if used in financial decision making, will lead to incorrect decisions. De-emphasizing the core concepts that underlie finance strips students of the essential intellectual tools they need to differentiate between good and bad decision making.

We present corporate finance as an application of a set of simple, powerful ideas. At the heart is the principal of the absence of arbitrage opportunities, or Law of One Price—in life, you don’t get something for nothing. This simple concept is a powerful and important tool in financial decision making. By relying on it, and the other core principles in this book, financial decision makers can avoid the bad decisions brought to light by the recent financial crisis. We use the Law of One Price as a compass; it keeps financial decision makers on the right track and is the backbone of the entire book.

金融学的核心概念简单而直观。使这门学科具有挑战性的是，新手通常很难区分这些核心思想和其他直观吸引人的方法，如果用于财务决策，将导致错误的决策。不强调金融学的核心概念会剥夺学生区分好的和坏的决策所需的基本智力工具。

我们将公司财务作为一套简单而有力的想法的应用。其核心是没有套利机会的原则，或者说生活中的一口价定律，你不会白白得到东西的。这个简单的概念在财务决策中是一个强大而重要的工具。依靠它和本书中的其他核心原则，金融决策者可以避免最近金融危机带来的糟糕决策。我们用一价定律作为指南针；它使金融决策者保持正确的轨道，是整本书的支柱。