The Wacky World of Negative Interest Rates
Feb 24, 2017 · 1 min read
Sweden is not the only country where negative rates have led to strange behavior. The Swiss rushed to pay taxes early in order to get a bonus rebate that was better than interest offered by banks (paywall). In Denmark, some banks are paying homebuyers interest on their mortgages (paywall). Japanese savers are buying fancy fire-proof safes to store cash over fears their banks may levy charges on deposits. A huge share of government bonds issued by advanced economies pay lenders less than face value; the European Central Bank itself is a big buyer of these guaranteed money-losers.
