On Aug. 30, the Bank of Japan, its country’s central bank, announced a major new program of monetary stimulus. The governor of the bank even flew back from the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole, Wyo., conclave of the world’s central bankers for the announcement. The same day, the Japanese government announced what it billed as a significant new economic stimulus package.

And the financial markets blew a giant raspberry.

The moves had been designed to slow the relentless appreciation of the yen, which has killed Japanese exports by making them more… Read the rest