Negative Interest Rates Are the Next Stage in Global Stimulus

Since late 2008, central banks around the world have used unprecedented QE to try and stoke the global economy.

Then in June 2014, the ECB took it a step further. They went negative.

Zero short-term interest rates apparently weren’t enough. The ECB realized that if they couldn’t get banks to loan or consumers to spend, why not really light a fire under their ass and tell them: “if you’re not going to spend, you have to pay to keep your money in the bank!”

The Swiss thought this was a great idea and did the same in December 2014. Later on, the Danish and the Swedes joined the party. And last week, the Bank of Japan decided zero wasn’t enough, either – they went negative, too!

Japan can’t seem to get a grip on the fact that, as a country, they’ve been slowly