The U.S. dollar is surging against foreign currencies, a consequence of the spreading credit crisis that started in U.S. subprime fixed income securities. As this article points out, the irony is that when times are good the dollar weakens and when seas get rough foreign investors come back in to the safe harbor that U.S. markets are.

But the main reason why investors are renewing their relationship with the dollar has more to do with a lack of places to hide during the volatility that has given financial markets their worst shakeup in about five years. That’s right: For all their concern about the U.S. dollar when times are good, investors adopt a far different view when times get tough and risk-taking no longer looks like a moneymaking activity.