[lifeisstillgood]

The not-answer answer is fairly simple - negative interest rates are "natural".

If I give you a car / boat / house / gold bar to look after you will charge me a fee for the effort.

Where money is concerned there has been a magic trick - initially banks took your money and paid you a fee (interest rates).

However they sneakily make more money from other things

- Just offering less interest than you earn (competed away)

- Account fees (competition eats those away)

- Taking three days to move money (regulators eat those away in EU, in US finally the Fed is killing it off - soon)

But overall, giving someone else money costs us money. Positive interest rates it seems are a thing of the past.