This article has two goals. The first is to contrast two widely used definitions of risk aversion. The second is to establish the feasibility of plunging behavior, in the sense that a possibly large number of risk averse investors will not be diversifiers.

This paper identifies five universal currency hedge ratio (UHR) definitions. These are hedge positions in foreign bonds, stated as a fraction of national or global equity portfolios, that are the same for all investors, regardless of nationality. The first three involve the total demand for foreign bonds and depend on equities not being held for hedging purposes. The last two are associated with variance-minimizing regression hedges. These hold, in general, but are designed exclusively for hedging other traded asset positions. Jensen's inequality makes the choice of measurement currency irrelevant and makes the HRs universal without affecting their values.

A currency is not risky because devaluation is highly likely. If the devaluation were certain, there would be no risk at all. A weak currency can be less risky than a strong currency. A strong currency does not become risky because it has been used to denominate a firm's debt.