There is not sufficient time to elaborate today on this point, but let me note that the Bank of Japan has been a lonely forerunner in terms of the adoption of unconventional policies such as the introduction of quantitative easing and of a policy duration commitment in 2001.
In the course of the current financial crisis, many other central banks have implemented measures that are in essence similar to the Bank of Japan’s, although they may differ in detail. This shows that what we are experiencing during the current global financial crisis is not a special case but reflects changes that are more or less universal.