How to end Japan's deflation? Abolish cash

Aggressive regulator: While previous BoJ chiefs were rightly blamed for not acting aggressively enough to prevent the country’s slide into deflation, timidity is not a charge that can be levelled against Haruhiko Kuroda. — Reuters

Monetary medicine in Japan is keeping the economy alive, but with nasty side effects. The search for a new cure should begin with a simple question: What if the Bank of Japan were to throw out its money-printing presses?

Instead of pushing more yen into an economy that has already absorbed a threefold increase in cheap central-bank funds in five years without any sign of the much-awaited 2% inflation, maybe it’s time to abolish cash altogether.