Negative Interest Rates Explained

In July of 2009, The Central Bank of Sweden lowered its overnight deposit rate to negative 0.25% – effectively charging the country's retail banks to pay it to look after its money. At the turn of the millennia, negative interest rates were somewhat of an economic fantasy: the same way that light-speed travel is a fantasy for theoretical physicists. Economists had speculated about what negative interest rates would mean, but nobody actually ever expected this phenomenon to exist in the real world. Today, negative interest rates dominate the market for sovereign bonds and are the staple of many central banks. But how in the world does this make sense? Who in their right mind would pay someone to take their money? ... all this and more in today's episode!