(RECAP: Former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke thinks policymakers should give serious thought to implementing negative rates. The man who led the U.S. central bank immediately before Janet Yellendoesn’t believe his former colleagues should rush to that kind of ultra-aggressive policy stance. But of all the options the Fed has for stimulus, going to negative rates may not be as drastic as it seems, Bernanke said in a blog post this week. Negative rates essentially involve charging depositors to keep money in the banking system, or, as in the case of the fixed income markets, charging buyers of government bonds to lend money. Central bankers in Europe and Japan have instituted negative rates as another means to stimulate their respective economies. More than $11 trillion in global sovereign debt currently carries negative yields. The results have been mixed at best, with inflation levels remaining muted and economic growth sluggish.)

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