Central banks seldom have quite so much going their own way. Policy changes are often criticized and market pressures can often leave currencies at disadvantageous levels. The Swiss National Bank is no stranger to these problems. For years the central bank struggled, and got widely criticized both at home and abroad for its attempts, to curb the strength of the Swiss franc. Then the bank hit on gold--or at least on a very bright idea. The bank's chairman declared the ultimate in verbal intervention early last September, an out and out pledge to cap the franc's rise at CHF1.20 to the euro. A sceptical market watched ... (full story)