Sven And Ingrid's Money Is In Their Mattress

... as it should be!

Those crazy Swedes are at it again, showing us uptight, reactionary capitalists how it's done. Dig this great post from Mish.

There has been a lot of ludicrous recommendations recently to combat deflation by making deposit rates negative. I did not think any central bank would be dumb enough to try it. I thought wrong.

Today, Riksbank, Sweden's central bank cut the deposit rate to -0.25% effectively charging savers interest on deposited money.

You heard it right - depositing money in the bank will now cost you in Sweden. You're not supposed to be frugal and save money, you see. You're supposed to borrow and spend and then borrow some more! Savers will be punished!

Many of my lefty friends have pointed to Sweden as an example of doing things right. Lots of social programs, libertine laws and now this - a culture of unrestrained spending that Barney Frank could be proud of.

Mish's conclusion says it all.

We should all be rooting for the demise of Sweden lest Bernanke or some other Central Bank clowns try the same thing. The risk is that Sweden does not immediately suffer for this stupidity and that Bernanke tries to do the same thing.

One thing is certain. This is eventually going to blow sky high. Let's hope it does before Bernanke gets the same brilliant idea.