To determine our list, we ranked more than 200 cities (minimum population: 100, 000) in the continental U.S. using a proprietary index based on the latest pricing data from the Council for Community and Economic Research in Arlington, Va.

FORBES: The Most Expensive Cities For A First Date

That index measures factors like licensing, philanthropy, research and development and pricing by company, offering companies the opportunity to benchmark their responsibility efforts against those of their competitors.

FORBES: The Crisis of Counterfeits and Transparency in Developing World Medicine

According to Zohar Hod of SuperDerivatives, a derivatives-pricing firm, there has already been movement away from LIBOR towards using overnight index swaps to discount cash flows on certain instruments.

ECONOMIST: A financial benchmark that badly needs an overhaul

The "capital asset pricing model" identified one factor, beta, or a stock's volatility relative to the index, as pivotal to the stock's returns.

WSJ: Supercharging Your Investment Portfolio