The policy of zero percent interest rates is a horrendous one. But the concept of negative interest rates is even worse. The European Central Bank (ECB) is trying it, the Swedish central bank recently launched this policy and other countries are flirting with the idea (SEE: What the heck is happening in Sweden? Negative rates, cash bans, housing bubble and enormous debt.)
Would the United States ever implement this type of tax on the American people? Maybe.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told officials that a negative interest rate is on the table if the national economy takes a turn for the worst.
“Potentially anything – including negative interest rates – would be on the table. But we would have to study carefully how they would work here in the U.S. context,” Yellen told a House of Representatives committee (via Reuters).
Here is what Dollar Collapse opines on the matter:
“But already, the impact of zero and near-zero rates has been seismic. Virtually every class of financial entity, from retiree to central bank, has, driven by a need for yield, begun taking the kinds of chances that used to be associated with gambling addiction or drug abuse.”
Yellen may be the most powerful woman in the world today, but she’s also the most dangerous, too.
We already have it in the U.S. My checking account that used to be free for over 20 years, now charges me $4.95 per month. And this is at a credit union. I will be looking for a new bank with free checking once I use up all the checks for this account.