This isn't a surprise. Could Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have been more explicit? But perhaps the breadth of central banks that are going overtly dovish should be given a lot more attention. In a steady stream, more and more are getting in on the act. That fact can have more of a shock-and-awe effect on asset prices than the Fed or the ECB being even more aggressive than expected. It's more likely to have longer-lasting consequences.

The result is that the monetary policy toolkits we are constantly measuring and assessing are bigger than is commonly assumed. This goes a long way toward countering the assertion that monetary policy has run out of oomph near the zero bound.