While subtle, the general public loss of faith in central banking has been obvious to anyone who has simply kept their eyes open: it started in Japan where in February hardware stores were reported that consumers were hoarding cash, as confirmed by the spike in demand for safes, "a place where the interest rate on cash is always zero, no matter what the central bank does." Then, as we reported just over a week ago, Burg-Waechter KG, Germany’s biggest safe manufacturer, posted a 25% jump in sales of home safes as a result of “significantly higher demand for safes by private individuals, mainly in Germany.”
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a fascinating arbitrage has emerged between negative interest rates and insurance costs: Helvetia Holding said it charges about 1,000 francs ($1,020) a year to insure 1 million francs, a fraction of the 7,500 francs a company would pay to park the same amount in a bank for a year, assuming the lender passes on the full charge.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-06/swiss-begin-hoard-cash
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