Of tsunamis and wavelets
Japanese currency jawboning efforts have gained momentum in recent weeks, with the rhetoric reaching renewed levels of intensity over the last few days. Masato Kanda – Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs in the Ministry of Finance – warned authorities “will not rule out any options in dealing with excessive foreign exchange fluctuations,” and said “We’re in very close communication with the US monetary authorities and share the view that excessive volatility is undesirable”. Janet Yellen concurred, implicitly giving the US Treasury Department’s approval by saying “We usually communicate with them about these interventions and generally understand the need...