Most analysis of risk parity treats it as a heuristic and compares backtests of different allocation methods with less emphasis on investment rationale. The authors investigate risk parity under different settings, highlight its potential utility, and give insights into when this method may be...

The consumption growth data strongly favor a two-regime specification. The high volatility, low growth regime is associated with deep recessions: the Great Depression, the recession of 1937-1938, the post-war recession of 1945, and the most recent financial crisis. I develop parsimonious models...