Why stocks are still cheap relative to bonds
The expected return on equities has rarely been lower—yet still outpaces bonds
BILLY CONNOLLY, the great Scottish comedian who recently retired from performing, had a joke about two men filming a lion for a wildlife documentary. The lion suddenly looks up. The men fear they have been spotted. One of them slowly removes his boots and puts on a pair of running shoes. “You will never outrun a lion in those,” says his colleague. “I don’t need to outrun the lion,” replies the first man as he slowly ties his shoelaces. “I just need to outrun you.”
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “The lion sleeps tonight”
Finance & economics January 9th 2021
- Why the crazy upward march in stock prices might just continue
- Why stocks are still cheap relative to bonds
- Is the financial establishment coming round to bitcoin?
- Investors start to pay attention to water risk
- China wants to delist its own companies: the bad ones
- What is the economic cost of covid-19?
- Could the pandemic cause economists to rethink welfare?
More from Finance & economics
China meets its official growth target. Not everyone is convinced
For one thing, 2024 saw the second-weakest rise in nominal GDP since the 1970s
Ethiopia gets a stockmarket. Now it just needs some firms to list
The country is no longer the most populous without a bourse
Are big cities overrated?
New economic research suggests so
Why catastrophe bonds are failing to cover disaster damage
The innovative form of insurance is reaching its limits
“The Traitors”, a reality TV show, offers a useful economics lesson
It is a finite, sequential, incomplete information game
Will Donald Trump unleash Wall Street?
Bankers have plenty of reason to be hopeful