First of all she tried to sell the yen. Now Japan has tried a new approach to encourage the yen to fall in price, and this time the US can’t complain. The central bank of the land of the rising sun is set to go out and print a further 5 trillion yen, or 60 billion US dollars, via that old favourite, quantitative easing.

She has also slashed interest rates all the way from 0.1 per cent to zero per cent.

It is a little hard to believe the cut in interest rates will make much difference.

But the new round of QE probably marks the opening gambit in a global round of new QE; the Fed and the Bank of England will probably follow suit.

Meanwhile, China comes under more flack than ever for keeping the yuan cheap. It is all a part of the “international currency war” that Brazil’s finance minister referred to last week.

Of course the Eurozone is steadfastly refusing to play the game. No QE or currency manipulation there. But then she doesn’t need to. Thanks to the region’s indebted countries the euro is dirt cheap. And Germany, the one country in the world where the case for a more expensive currency is clear cut, is riding the great export wave.

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