Economist Podcasts
EFF/KRF: The Economist provides unusually clear and accurate analysis of economic and financial issues. You can download podcasts from The Economist on iTunes.
View ArticleHistorical Returns
KRF: If you are looking for historical returns on our three factors and many other interesting portfolios, you can find them on my web site.
View ArticlePerformance of Mutual Funds
EFF/KRF: Our new paper, Luck versus Skill in the Cross Section of Mutual Fund Alpha Estimates, takes another look at the performance of mutual funds. Bootstrap simulations produce no evidence that any...
View ArticleCliff Asness on the U.S. Healthcare Bill
EFF/KRF: For an interesting and colorful economic analysis of the proposed U.S. Healthcare Bill we recommend "Health Care Mythology" by Cliff Asness, a Chicago Booth Ph.D.
View ArticleRobert Lucas in The Economist
KRF: Professor Robert Lucas of the University of Chicago has an interesting guest article in The Economist, "In defense of the dismal science."
View ArticleThe Squam Lake Group
KRF: The Squam Lake Group recently published "The Squam Lake Report: Fixing the Financial System". We launched the book with a conference in New York.
View ArticleEfficient Markets, Economic Growth, and Market Volatility
Professor Eugene Fama discusses the connections between the financial crisis of 2008 and efficient markets, economic growth, and market volatility with students from the Chicago Booth Finance Club on...
View ArticleFama on EconTalk Podcast
EFF: I spoke with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about how the efficient market hypothesis relates to macroeconomic events of the past few years, with some additional thoughts on behavioral finance and...
View ArticleFinancial Times Interview
EFF: Last week I was interviewed by James Mackintosh from the Financial Times. We discussed the relevance of market efficiency for investors, the definition of market "bubbles," and measurements of...
View ArticleQ&A: How True is "Too Big to Fail?"
Is there such a thing as systemic risk in the financial system? Are some of our banking institutions truly "too big to fail?" EFF: The term "systemic risk" is less than 20 years old. It has become a...
View ArticleQ&A: Signs of a Recovery?
I read an article recently profiling five signs that the recession is ending. What signs might you look at to indicate when the recession is ending? EFF/KRF: We are not experts, but know enough about...
View ArticleQ&A: Bias in the EMH?
George Soros claims (in his op-ed in the Wall Street Journal) that the Efficient Market Hypothesis is invalid, because prices in financial markets "always provide a biased view of the future, and that...
View ArticleQ&A: Equity Premium Puzzle
Has the equity premium puzzle gone away? EFF: There never was one. The "puzzle" comes out of a simplified economic model that says the average spread of the equity market return over the t-bill...
View ArticleQ&A: Costs of Corporate Acquisition
Firms often pay a substantial premium to the market price when making acquisitions. Does their willingness to pay a premium suggest the shares of target firms were mispriced? EFF: The empirical...
View ArticleQ&A: Narrowly Held Risks
John Cochrane* has suggested that the historical premiums for small cap and value stocks reflect "narrowly held risks" and that these premiums are likely to shrink in the future "until the markets have...
View ArticleQ&A: Do Index Funds Contribute to Mispricing?
Index funds buy stocks "blind" without regard to company fundamentals. Do their activities contribute to mispricing of securities? EFF: Index funds typically buy cap-weighted portfolios so they do not...
View ArticleQ&A: The Equity Premium over Long Periods
A buy-and-hold for stocks appears to work well for long periods (such as 1975 - 1999) but then does poorly for extended periods as well, such as the most recent ten years. Isn't it clear that there are...
View ArticleQ&A: Hedge Funds and Securities Prices
Stock market analysts often claim that hedge funds represent a significant percentage of trading volume in securities markets. What effect, if any, do hedge funds have on stock and bond prices?...
View ArticleQ&A: Protecting Purchasing Power
U.S. budget deficits keep expanding and some of our largest trading partners have begun to question the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency. Both trends suggest a dim future for the...
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