Chart Book | Chart of the day: Japan escalates currency war

While Group of 20 leaders over the weekend were eyeing Ukraine and the Middle East, another warrior has lifted the ante. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his sidekick at the Bank of Japan have engineered a 16 per cent drop in the yen against the US dollar since July. Putting the problem into perspective, European currencies have surrendered 8 to 10 per cent against the greenback, Asian ones 1 to 8 per cent and Russia 35 per cent. This is especially unfair to mainland China and Hong Kong, which aim for steady or strong currencies. Since 2012, 56 per cent of the original dollar-yen face value has been destroyed. In a global world, this must be stopped.