Quote from Martinghoul:
I am also not sure of what you mean by them adopting zero rates before 2008.
Maybe you are new to the markets Martinghoul?
On June 15, 2000 SNB target range was 3.00 - 4.00%
They began easing on March 22, 2001 and by March 6 2003 the target range was 0.00 - 0.75%. At the time the US and ECB were nearer 4-5%. Anything below 2% was unheard of, except in Japan and Switzerland.
BoJ and SNB experienced "near-zero" rates well before it became the cool thing for super doves like Bernanke to do (not "zero", I think you misread).
In those days, Japan was ridiculed. Now everyone follows the same path they took.
Actually if you go further back in time, the SNB effectively made rates negative when they charged you a tax to hold balances. And I recall borrowing Japanese money in 1998 at -20 basis points through a JPU/USD fx swap and investing the proceeds in Japanese TBills at 0.02% for a risk free profit.
It is just amusing to see how all the major central banks ended up in the same liquidity trap near 0%. Same mistakes, but multiplied.