One of the fundamental tenets of finance is that stocks do better than bonds over the long haul. The difference is known as the equity risk premium. In other words, it’s the amount that investors are paid to take on the extra risk of owning stocks. (Small but important note: the equity risk premium most often refers to the gain stocks have over short-term T-bills, in this article I’m referring to the gain stocks have over long-term government and corporate bonds.)