Japan adopts negative interest rates, Zika's 'explosive' spread and the new oil order

The Bank of Japan has slashed interest rates to minus 0.1 per cent in a shock move that adds a new dimension to its record monetary stimulus. Its decision reasserts the BoJ’s willingness to take aggressive action to drive inflation to 2 per cent and highlights its concerns about the economic slowdown in China and a rise in the yen.

“We will cut the interest further into negative territory if judged as necessary,” the central bank said. (FT, NAR)

In the news

Zika’s ‘explosive’ spread The World Health Organisation warned that large swaths of the tropical and subtropical world are at risk of the “explosive” spread of the Zika virus. “The level of alarm is extremely high,” said the director-general of the WHO, which warned that an outbreak could infect 4m people in the Americas alone. (FT, Reuters)

Cameron’s EU reform quest After months of torrid negotiations with the bloc, UK Prime Minister David Cameron is today set to be offered his flagship demand of a four-year migrant benefit ban — but one that can only be invoked when Britain’s welfare system is deemed to be under “exceptional” strain from immigration. (FT)

Deutsche cancels board bonuses Deutsche Bank’s top management will receive no bonuses for 2015, after the bank fell to a €6.8bn loss for the year and admitted that it could not rule out more red numbers in 2016. (FT)

Silicon Valley strikes back Google and Apple have defended their European tax regimes , saying they are being unfairly targeted as the public backlash over the controversy escalates. Tech groups and US business leaders are stepping up their lobbying campaign in Washington, arguing that European authorities are discriminating against multinationals. A group of US senators recently said any fines imposed on companies such as Apple amounted to “discriminatory taxation”. (FT)

‘Ducking Donald’ Trump US Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has become the source of online ridicule and mockery following his decision to boycott the final presidential debate before next week’s Iowa caucuses. “If @realDonaldTrump can’t handle the @FoxNews debate, what else will he not be able to handle? Hillary Clinton, Isis, Putin, All of the Above” said Jeb Bush on Twitter. (FT)

Amazon profits fall short Amazon’s share price tumbled 13 per cent to $550 in after-market trading after the Seattle-based ecommerce company reported weaker than expected profits for the fourth quarter. (FT)

It’s a big day for

US economic growth, which probably slowed to 0.8 per cent in the fourth quarter, after a 2 per cent pace in the previous three months. (CBS Moneywatch)

Read our full coverage of the Week Ahead.

Food for thought

Where we’re going, we don’t need roads Power up your flux capacitors: the DeLorean Motor Company, which hasn’t made one of its signature gull-winged cars in more than 30 years, is planning to build several hundred new replicas of the stainless steel cars featured in the Back to the Future trilogy. (NPR)

The Brics are dead — long live the Ticks The deepening recessions in Brazil and Russia have dealt a serious blow to faith in the Bric hypothesis. Instead, Steve Johnson writes, tech-heavy Taiwan, India, China and Korea are the new darlings of the EM world. (FT)

The new oil order When it comes to oil, we are used to old thinking — a world of producers comprised of Opec plus critical non-Opec producers including Russia, Mexico, Norway, Oman, writes Ed Morse, global head of commodities research at Citi. “It is time to throw away the lenses of the 40-year-old world oil order and come to grips with the new and permanentrealities of the market.” (FT)

Cremation, burial or mushroom death suit? For those looking for an eco-friendly way to enter the hereafter, the “Infinity Burial Suit” is embroidered with thread infused with spores that grow from the body after burial. The fungi will eat your corpse as it decompose and neutralise many of the contaminants you’ve ingested over the course of your life. (Atlas Oscura)

History’s most audacious scam In 1822, Scotsman Gregor MacGregor made himself rich beyond his dreams. His pitch: a fertile, Edenic land called Poyais that was ripe for investment. The catch: the country never existed. (BBC)

How Levi’s 501s helped fuel the heroin crisis In the 1980s, Mexican dealers who ran much of the black-tar heroin trade in the US valued the blue jeans almost as much as currency. The story behind why the pants were so valued explains much about foreign dealers’ motivation for their work. (Atlantic)

Video of the day

Wolf meets Greece’s central bank chief Yannis Stournaras has been governor of the Bank of Greece since June 2014. He talks to Martin Wolf, FT chief economics commentator, aboutthe health of the Greek economy and the strain of the refugee crisis. (FT)