Negative rates are not the fault of central banks is the headline that sits atop yet another FT (paywall) piece on the contentious policy. “Some will object that the decline in real interest rates is solely the result of monetary policy, not real forces. This is wrong. Monetary policy does indeed determine short-term nominal rates and influences longer-term ones. But the objective of price stability means that policy is aimed at balancing aggregate demand with potential supply. The central banks have merely discovered that ultra-low rates are needed to achieve this objective,” writes Martin Wolf.