What has been a building theme for some time, central bank intervention in the markets, is going to go into overdrive in 2013, with the brewing currency war among the major central banks as each tries to devalue its way to prosperity. But don't blame central bankers (at least not completely). Political leaders deserve a big dollop of the blame as well.

The unappreciated spark to this currency-war trend is something noted today by Opinion page columnist Dan Henniger: "A reality has become too obvious for the world's dazed inhabitants...