Japan Goes Low

Japan lowered their interest rates into negative territory…thus charging lenders for not lending money and forcing them to invest in a zero-growth economy. The hope is that it will magically raise the profit rate. Of course it won’t. Japan is the example par excellence of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall. The TRPF implies that the profit rate will converge on the population growth rate. Not only are the Japanese not reproducing; they do not allow immigration. This is a last ditch effort before their economy starts shrinking.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/28/news/economy/bank-of-japan-negative-interest-rate/index.html