http://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-cashless-society-negative-interest-rates-2015-10 This seems so alien to me that I don't know what to make of it. Thoughts from the Conservative congregation?
banks can't make the same money off of deposits anymore. in particular with the new lending restrictions. in American we've taken to charging fees, this is just another fee. doubt this is a long term problem though.
My understanding is that it is the banks themselves covering this, and that the rate was set by whatever entity is in charge of the Swedish currency and the Swiss currency? My understanding on this is extremely limited because this whole thing puts how I understood finance and banking to work on it's head.
Yes the banks don't have much say, but this is their response to keep profitable. I'm going to guess the economy isn't too strong in Sweden if they are artificially trying to have negative rates. Not sure I agree with the article saying it's trying to encourage people not holding cash. The Swiss surely have a craplod of alternatives
Just returned from Sweden and paid exclusively in cash for everything. No one batted an eye. Yes, many things are expensive (cheapest beer in a bar is like $7.50 USD) but grocery food is surprisingly cheap. Great country to visit though. People are nice and lots of interesting things to do.
That's interesting. My wife's brother spent 3 months in Sweden and all his wife complained about was how expensive the grocery store was. In particular meat. But she's not much of a chef. She probably was complaining Kraft Mac n cheese was expensive or something. I'd love to go. I've never known anyone to not say it's a great place to visit.
Cheap may be relative. I noticed things like dairy and some meat was more expensive, but not much. But those rotisserie chickens you can get in the store were two dollars cheaper there, bread was cheaper, soft drinks were about the same. The trick -- in terms of food at least -- is to eat lunch out (portions are quite big and the food is filling) and then eat in for your dinner. Meals almost triple for dinner, but lunch is really reasonable I thought. I've never been to France, but the bread in Sweden is probably the best I've had anywhere.
