Getting to the Core: Inflation Risks Within and Across Asset Classes
Do “real” assets protect against inflation? Core inflation betas of stocks are negative while energy betas are positive; currencies, commodities, and real estate also mostly hedge against energy inflation but not core. These hedging properties are reflected in the prices of inflation risks: only core inflation carries a negative risk premium, and its magnitude is consistent both within and across asset classes, uniquely among macroeconomic risk factors. While high core inflation tends to be followed by low real output, consumption, and dividend payouts, it impacts asset prices through both cash-flow and discount rate channels. The relative contribution of core and energy changes over time, helping explain the time-varying correlation between stock and bond returns. A two-sector New Keynesian model qualitatively accounts for these facts and implies that the changing stock-bond correlation can be attributed to the shifting importance of supply and demand shocks in driving energy inflation over time.
Non-Technical Summaries
- Nominal fixed-income securities such as bonds do not protect investors against unexpected inflation. In addition to inflation eroding...
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