Lorenzo Ranaldi
My research
Dissertation: Essays on Macrofinance and Inflation
"My dissertation asks what happens when inflation and asset price swings collide with the balance
sheets of those who hold the economy's wealth — investors, banks, and households. Historical data
from advanced economies shows that surprise inflation is hard to hide from: stocks and bonds lose value
quickly, and how badly investors fare depends largely on how forcefully central banks fight back. Banks fare
no better — inflation quietly eats away at their net worth, and as they pull back on lending,
firms find less credit for investment, spreading the damage well beyond rising prices
themselves. Households, finally, reveal how unevenly these gains and losses are felt: three
decades of Dutch data show that families cash in their winning investments while clinging to
losers and that a euro of realized gains is spent very differently by a homeowner than by a
renter. The thread running through all three essays is that macrofinancial fluctuations have
no single effect — their impact depends on whose balance sheet absorbs them."
My future
"I'm excited to join Banca d'Italia in Rome as a Research Fellow, continuing my research in an environment
where economic analysis directly informs monetary policy and financial stability—a perfect match
for my work on macrofinance."
My highlights
"What I valued most was the freedom to pursue the research I liked—which, looking back, taught me a lot
about entrepreneurship, since research is far more than reading and thinking in an office: it means travelling
widely, meeting hundreds of people, and learning to tell the "story" behind your results. Along the way, I was
lucky to meet so many smart and interesting people—professors, colleagues, and friends—and to have the
resources and financial support that made ambitious research possible."