Most economists and market participants don't usually spend much time looking at Swedish monetary policy. Today should be different given the decision by the Riksbank - the country's central bank and the world's oldest - to part ways with its peers in advanced countries by raising interest rates because of worries about the collateral damage and unintended consequences of an ultra-low regime.

By raising its main repo rate 25 basis points, Sweden exited a negative rate paradigm that had been in place for five years. The action came after officials there publicly expressed concerns that persistent negative yields distort the behavior of households and companies adversely.

This is a big policy move for Sweden, especially so because it faces what economists call "small country" conditions - that is, it's too small to directly impact other economies or to resist spillovers from the actions of larger economies.

By increasing interest rate differentials compared with the rest of Europe, the rate increase could strengthen the currency and, together with the higher cost of borrowing domestically, weaken the economy. It's a risk that the Riksbank said it would monitor closely.