Oh, what have you done?
My latest Forbes post discusses the reasons for the Swiss National Bank's sudden removal of exchange controls and imposition of record negative rates. Here's a taster: This action has without question been very costly . So why did the SNB do it? Frankly, I don’t buy the SNB’s “cap is no longer needed” story. If the currency peg was really redundant, market reaction would have been far less extreme. Nor do I agree with Markus Brunnermeier and Harold James that this was due to domestic political worries about SNB solvency. In my view this is all about ECB QE – and about the power dynamics between central banks. To read the whole post, click here . The title to the Forbes post has confused lots of people, so let me explain. It's a reference to David Bowie's song Love is Lost : It's the darkest hour, you're 22 The voice of youth, the hour of dread It's the darkest hour, and your voice is new Love is lost, and lost is love Your country...