How Low Can Rates Go?
How central bankers are turning the norms of economics upside down as they seek to combat persistently slow growth.
Are central banks running out of options to boost sluggish economic growth?
Five of them have introduced negative rates, violating one of the most fundamental norms in business and economics. And other ideas, once thought utterly shocking, are now being openly considered.
Martin Wolf, chief economic commentator at the Financial Times newspaper, talks with economists and central bankers, past and present, to examine how such policies might affect the way people spend and save in the future.
In an interview conducted in June he discusses “helicopter money” with Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda, and asks former Bank of England governor Mervyn King why many economies are still struggling eight years on from the global financial crisis
Plus, how much more tinkering can we expect from these experts and how much further might interest rates fall?
(Photo: Coins being dropped into a jar. Credit: Thinkstock)
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Clips
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Negative Rates: The End of Free Banking?
Duration: 01:57
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Helicopter Money: The Last Resort?
Duration: 03:11
Broadcasts
- Sun 31 Jul 201602:06GMTBBC World Service except Australasia, News Internet & South Asia
- Sun 31 Jul 201604:06GMTBBC World Service Australasia & South Asia only
- Sun 31 Jul 201610:06GMTBBC World Service except News Internet
- Sun 31 Jul 201613:06GMTBBC World Service Australasia
- Sun 31 Jul 201614:06GMTBBC World Service West and Central Africa
- Sun 31 Jul 201622:32GMTBBC World Service except News Internet



