The Russian ruble fell to new record lows against the euro and dollar on Wednesday.
Bloomberg TV's Tom Keene uses Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" to describe what's going on.
When Business Insider asked Keene for what he considered to be the most important chart in the world, he sent us a long-term chart of the crashing ruble. It goes all the way back to the 1998 Russian financial crisis. In his words:
"Here is USD-RUB with a decimal-point-shift depreciation, call it 4.10 to 41.0. Much was accomplished within the yellow rectangle... a painful devaluation. From here? My particular question with currency angst always, always comes from domestic surprise. With Russia, the calculus is evermore complex. For 2015, USD-RUB 45 or 50 or 55 may be crime and punishment, enough."
Here's the chart:
Tom Keene