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Take everything you thought you knew about how markets work and prepare for a fundamental rethinking. When NVIDIA's stock price skyrockets after negative news, or the Federal Reserve successfully manipulates interest rates through bond purchases, classical economic theories struggle to explain what we're witnessing in real time.
Professor Aditya Chaudhry from Ohio State University joins us to explore the revolutionary concept of "demand-based asset pricing" - a framework that's challenging decades of financial orthodoxy. Traditional models suggest that when investors irrationally pile into a stock, deep-pocketed arbitrageurs should quickly step in to correct any mispricing. But what if there simply isn't enough arbitrage capital available to enforce rational pricing, especially at the macro level?
We dive into groundbreaking research showing that shifts in investor demand might impact security prices up to 100 times more than classical theories predict. This "inelastic markets hypothesis" helps explain everything from market booms and busts to why quantitative easing actually works. The implications extend from central bank policy to government debt issuance, potentially reshaping how we interpret market movements.
The conversation bridges complex financial theory with practical examples, making sophisticated concepts accessible without sacrificing depth. Whether you're trying to understand the current bull market, puzzling over Federal Reserve decisions, or simply seeking to make smarter investment choices, this episode provides crucial context for navigating today's financial landscape.
While uncertainty remains a fundamental feature of markets, the one clear takeaway reinforces timeless wisdom: for most individual investors, passive products remain the most reliable strategy rather than attempting to outguess the market's complex demand dynamics.

Show Notes:

Supply and Demand

Gaigax & Koijen, Inelastic Markets Hypothesis (2023)

Chaudhry & Li, Endogenous Elasticities (forthcoming)

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