New American penalties on Iran's central bank and those doing business with it have helped trigger an enormous currency devaluation.
Since the start of the second intifada, though, the idea of permanently "separating" Israel from the Palestinian territories -- with a network of fences, gates, perhaps even an elevated train from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip -- has gained enormous currency in Israel.
A grossly underpriced currency grants China a trade advantage that has allowed it to accumulate enormous currency and trade surpluses.
So far, however, the Chinese government, which enjoys the luxury of having relatively little debt of its own, plus enormous foreign currency reserves, has managed to avoid such a nasty outcome.
Having these enormous foreign currency reserves gives China great political clout, Allen adds.
And it forestalls protectionist measures by Europe and the U.S". Allowing the yuan to float would relieve China of the need to keep enormous foreign-currency reserves currently about $2.4 trillion, with two-thirds estimated to be in U.S. dollars.
But, on the evidence of the past few days, the potential exists for truly enormous moves in currency markets.
As such he was on hand for "Black Wednesday" in 1992, when Lamont had to go before the public to explain why, despite several weeks of speeches and briefings to the contrary, not to mention enormous spending of currency reserves, Britain could no longer defend the pound on the world market.
In the process, we have created an enormous shift in currency reserves to countries like China, Russia, India, Korea, Brazil and Taiwan.
Brazil is bedeviled by its enormous debt, falling currency and anemic economy.
The most immediate trigger for the sell-off in the dollar, traders said, was a jarring signal that suggested China might shift some of its enormous hoard of foreign currency reserves — worth more than $1.4 trillion, primarily in dollars and dollar-denominated assets — into other currencies to get a better return on its money.
