Four fundamental factors affect the cost of money: 1.The return that borrowers expect to earn on their investments
2.The preference of savers to spend their income in the current period rather than delay their consumption until some future period
3.The risks associated with the investment
4.Expected inflation
Consider the following statements that address these factors, and indicate if you think each statement is true or false.
Statement
True
False
Investments providing cash flows that are more likely to equal their expected value are said to exhibit more risk.
The actual relationship between the risk-free rate of return (r*r*) and the expected future inflation rate or inflation premium (IP) is actually multiplicative—that is, [(1 + rRFrRF) x (1 + IP)] – 1—but it is often simplified to reflect an additive relationship.
All things being equal, rational savers and investors prefer to invest in an asset that provides a 12% return rather than one that provides an 8% return.
All things being equal, savers and investors prefer more risk to less risk and prefer lower risk premiums on projects exhibiting higher levels of risk.
On average and everything else held constant, an investment that can provide a 4% return should attract more investment capital from savers/investors than an otherwise identical investment that can generate a 12% return.