The Economics of Foreign Exchange

The foreign currency exchange market is one of the most influential markets in the world today, the New York stock exchange, the Nasdaq and the Tokyo stock exchange the three largest securities markets in the world have a daily trading volume of around 300 billion USD combined… the foreign exchange market has a daily trading volume of around 6.6 trillion dollars per day according to the Bank for International Settlements (which is basically the central bank for central banks). This daily figure is more than the annual GDP of all but two of the largest nations on earth, China and the USA. Well, in this episode I want to explore three things: Why is the foreign exchange market so large and influential? Who actually conducts these trades and how? And while we are at it why is it that the UK pound is so valuable compared to all other currencies?