Less than Zero in Japan (Koichi Hamada, Project-Syndicate)

In a bold attempt to reflate the Japanese economy, the Bank of Japan has now pushed interest rates on deposits into negative territory. Though this policy is not new – it is already being pursued by the European Central Bank, the Bank of Sweden, the Swiss National Bank, and others – it is uncharted ground for the BOJ. And, unfortunately, markets have not responded as expected.

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/boj-negative-rates-yen-appreciation-by-koichi-hamada-2016-02

Koichi Hamada, Special Economic Adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is Professor Emeritus of Economics at Yale University and at the University of Tokyo.