The war on cash just got serious, and of course, it is the extreme policy experimenters of Japan that are pushing the boundaries. Having dived headlong into negative interest rates, Japanee policymakers recognize full well the historical reaction of "hording cash" will not 'create' the nirvana of 2% inflation and break the 'deflation mindset' that they so long have waited for.
During a leisurely stroll around Germany, one may encounter many strange sights but nothing would stranger than the following ad (courtesy of Peter Barkow) which promises negative 1% interest rates for consumer loans up to 24 months.
Here is the quick and dirty: take out a loan and pay 1% less.
For the fine print we go to Santander Consumer Bank AG, which has this to which has this to say about this self-amortizing (if only in the beginning) loan.
-1.0% FINANCING
The elite of America seem to always say the most unsettling things. The most recent example of this comes from “beloved” Las Vegas casino baron Steve Wynn. Apparently, Wynn believes that rich people do not want to be near poor people. According to CNN: Wynn, the CEO of Wynn Resorts, said during his company’s investor day presentation late Wednesday that wealthy gamblers who come to his high-end casinos don’t want the less fortunate hanging around with them. “Rich people only like being around rich people,” he said.
When people talk about the historic collapse of Valeant's stock price (down 65% this year), the first name that usually comes to mind is that of Bill Ackman whose Pershing Square has been one of the biggest investors in VRX stock and also one of the biggest losers, wiping out billions in assets under management as a result of Valeant's unprecedented unwind late last summer.
In late January, we asked "who will offer the first negative rate mortgage?"
Who will offer the first negative rate mortgage
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) January 30, 2015
We didn't have to wait long before Denmark's Nordea Credit unleashed this idiocy. And now two banks in Belgium have followed suit, paying instead of charging interest on mortgages to a handful of customers.