It prices risky assets in the real world. 資本資產定價模型是在真實世界中給風險資產定價。
A long-fermenting issue is how far "fair-value" accounting, which uses up-to-the-minute market information to price assets, should be pushed in banking. 一個長期爭議的話題就是在銀行業應當在何種程度上採用以實時市場信息為資產定價的公允價值會計。