The Yen also rises

It seems perplexing. The yen and the dollar are surging as the Japanese and US economies slide. Japan, which has credit worries, is pumping liquidity into its banks. The US government has just increased its national debt by about 5% of GDP-which may presage inflation and dollar depreciation in the future. But the rise of the yen and the dollar owes less to economic fundamentals than to financial alchemy, which has turned toxic. The pound-yen exchange rate helps to explain what’s going on. On Mon...