Argentina has the best stock market in the world: +50% every year! Until you realize it's denominated in a heavily inflating currency.pic.twitter.com/pAGbzjTWLG
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This is typical behavior of stock markets during hyper-inflationary periods. Initially, they are a good hedge against inflation (and raise exponentially just as the currency falls exponentially) but inevitably they fall behind hard assets. Zimbabwe, Weimar Germany, may others.
USA 1970s. Nominal value of the stock market roughly unchanged. Real value down about 90% over the decade.
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That was stagflation, though - not hyper-inflation. The trends weren't exponential.
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Yes, perhaps thanks to Paul Volcker it didn't turn into hyperinflation and instead reversed. But demonstrates closer to home than Weimar in time or Zimbabwe in culture part of your point namely that stocks don't necessarily hedge inflation.
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They are a hedge only during the initial stages, yes. (Venezuela is likely to get much worse.) But I'm not sure it was due to Volker raising rates that hyper-inflation didn't happen. He stopped the inflation, yes.
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But hyper-inflation happens when there is a major loss of confidence in the currency or in the government; it's not just a case of over-supply of currency, like normal inflation. In fact, I can't remember a case when a reserve currency had hyper-inflation.
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Even the Roman denarius, which is often given as an example of abruptly debased currency, wasn't really hyper-inflation. There were periods when it wasn't minted at all (deflation?) and people kept hoarding it, despite the debasement.
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