BOJ's last resort: bringing water to the horse

Tokyo

THOUGH the various forms of monetary easing by the world's largest central banks are becoming tortuously complex at each twist and turn, there is a certain logic discernible in the Bank of Japan's surprise venture into the realm of negative interest rates.

Not that this is acknowledged by the many critics who have charged since last Friday - when the BOJ made its move - that it represents a desperate last resort to rescue a "failed" inflation targeting effort, and that the concept and mechanics of such efforts up to now have been deeply flawed.

The danger, however, of pursuing such aims only halfway before turning back timidly is that they become discredited and resista…