Why the foreign-exchange markets are still in turmoil

Early trade was conducted in whatever currency was available. Coins circulated across borders in a bewildering variety of forms, creating the need for middlemen to value one token against another. These were the "money-changers" whom Jesus threw out of the temple. Two thousand years later the foreign-exchange markets are still in turmoil. In January the Swiss National Bank abandoned its policy of capping the Swiss franc against the euro, catching many traders and investors by surprise. As the fr...