Sweden became the first country in the world to introduce negative interest rates in 2009, charging commercial banks to hold their excess cash reserves.

A closer look

Sweden became the first country in the world to introduce negative interest rates in 2009, charging commercial banks to hold their excess cash reserves. The central bank implemented this bizarre policy to force institutions to lend money to consumers rather than hoarding it, theoretically stimulating the economy during a massive financial downturn. Under normal capitalist logic, you put money in a bank and they pay you for the privilege of holding it. Instead, the Swedish government basically fined banks for not constantly throwing cash at literally anyone with a pulse. It perfectly illustrates the panicked desperation of modern monetary policy, where highly educated economists realize their traditional models are completely broken and resort to punishing savings accounts just to artificially prop up consumer spending so people will keep buying flat-screen televisions they absolutely do not need!