Evans-Pritchard on Deflation in Switzerland (and Perhaps the World)

"Watch Switzerland closely," writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in the Daily Telegraph. "It is tipping into deflation, the first Western country to succumb to Japan's disease."

More:

The SNB is not easily spooked. It is the world's benchmark bank, the keeper of the monetary flame. Yet even the SNB's hard men have thrown away the rule book, taking emergency action to force down the exchange rate of the Swiss franc.

Here lies the danger. If other countries try to export deflation by this means, we will face a second phase of the global crisis. Taiwan is already devaluing. Korea, Singapore, and Sweden all seem tempted to follow. Japan is chomping at the bit.

"We don't fully realise in the West what a catastrophic collapse Japan has suffered," says Albert Edwards, global strategist at Société Générale. "The West has dumped a large part of its economic downturn onto Japan by devaluing against the yen."

Another bit at the end:

Enjoy the "bear-trap" rally on global bourses this spring. But remember, we have only just begun to see the mass lay-offs and hardship caused by this slump. The politicians will act to save their skins. Markets may not like the result.

Sounds like he's expecting some bad times ahead. I sorta do, too. My two cents is the same in one regard: don't own stocks unless you have a truly long-term time horizon.