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Equation #5 · Chapter 2

Entropy Tax E_tax

Etax=Maintenance×eλtE_{tax} = Maintenance \times e^{\lambda t}

Entropy Tax

E_tax · Ch 2

Maintenance × e^(λt). The status quo is never free — read the curve, not a point.

Worked example — A 2014 batch settlement job

A payments team spends $400K a year keeping it alive. Every year it needs a little more: more patches, more people who know the workaround, more hours in the release window. Call the decay 0.2 and look three years out.

It came out at $729K/yr by year three — 1.8× today's bill. Bending.

The CFO did not approve a $500K project. He approved not paying an extra $329K a year to stand still. Same money, opposite framing — and the second one is arithmetic he can check.

Your turn — change one number
Result$729K/yr

Yellow. Curve is bending (1.8×). Run the Financial Autopsy.