Japan risks its very own Brady moment amid negative rates

Singapore

IN the 1970s, banks in the US and Europe thought they had found a great way to make money amid falling interest rates: they lent directly to governments in Latin America, for high fees.

The rationale was that if these nations could print money, they would never default. Turns out they also had the sovereignty to decide not to pay foreign lenders. The outcome was the Brady plan, one of the biggest ever restructurings of bank debt.