SINCE the easing of last November's European monetary crisis, the calm in world money markets has seemed almost uncanny. The French franc has suffered only minor buffeting on currency exchanges. Last week the British pound rose to a six-month high of more than $2.39, lifted by the news that Britain's perennial trade deficit narrowed to practically nothing in January. The dollar, buoyed by last year's slight surplus in the usually deficit-ridden U.S. balance of payments, is stronger than at any time in recent memory. Yet amid such outward stability, signs of skittishness abound.
The price of gold in Paris last week shot...
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