This month marks the 50th anniversary of President Richard Nixon slamming shut the so-called “gold window” and severing the last ties between the dollar and gold.
On Aug. 15, 1971, Nixon ordered Treasury Secretary John Connally to uncouple gold from its fixed $35 price and suspended the ability of foreign banks to directly exchange dollars for gold. Nixon’s order was the end of a path off the gold standard that started during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration, and it set the foundation for the massive government spending and inflation we’re dealing with today.
This week marked the 50th anniversary of President Richard Nixon slamming shut the “gold window” and cutting the last tether between the dollar and gold. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey explains exactly what Nixon did and the impact of 50 years of monopoly money. He also covers some of the week’s economic data and the release of the Fed’s July minutes.
Fifty years ago this week, President Richard Nixon slammed shut the “gold window” and eliminated the last vestige of the gold standard.
Nixon ordered Treasury Secretary John Connally to uncouple gold from its fixed $35 price and suspended the ability of foreign banks to directly exchange dollars for gold. During a national television address, Nixon promised the action would be temporary in order to “defend the dollar against the speculators,” but this turned out to be a lie. The president’s move permanently and completely severed the dollar from gold and turned it into a pure fiat currency.
This year will mark the 50th anniversary of President Richard Nixon severing America – and the world – from its last tie to the gold standard. The rapid devaluing of the dollar is the most obvious result. But another consequence has been an enormous national debt that continues to grow at a staggering pace. Most people don’t realize it, but this is a direct and intentional result of the current fiat money system.
Yesterday marked the anniversary of the great government gold heist of 1933 ordered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
On April 5, 1933, the president signed Executive Order 6102. It was touted as a measure to stop gold hoarding, but it was in reality, a massive gold confiscation scheme. The order required private citizens, partnerships, associations and corporations to turn in all but small amounts of gold to the Federal Reserve in exchange for $20.67 per ounce.
As economist Thorsten Polleit pointed out, inflation has pernicious effects on the average person, while tremendously benefiting the chosen few. Inflation the money supply is a policy intentionally carried out by central bankers around the world. Polleit calls this an “inflation scam.” With the Federal Reserve signaling that it is willing to let the inflation monster run loose, you should be prepared to see the value of the dollar erode even further in the future.
In essence, inflation facilitates a transfer of wealth from the average Joe and Jane to the politically connected. You can’t talk about wealth inequality without pointing a finger at the Federal Reserve. After all, it is the central bank that generates inflation by effectively creating money out of thin air.
As we’ve been reporting, a number of central banks have been aggressively adding gold to their reserves over the last several years. Globally, central banks accumulated 651.5 tons of gold last year. It was the highest level of annual net central bank gold purchases since the suspension of dollar convertibility into gold in 1971, and the second highest annual total on record. Last week, Serbia and the Philippines joined the race for gold.
A move to minimize dependence on the US dollar, especially by countries like Russia and China, is driving this central bank gold-buying spree. Peter Schiff recently appeared on RT’s News with Rick Sanchez to talk about it.
SchiffGold’s It’s Your Dime features “straight talk” interviews with movers and shakers in the world of precious metals, investing and economics.
In this episode, host Mike Maharrey talks with economist Bob Murphy about his Contra Krugman book, how Keynesian economics goes off the rails, the time Paul Krugman ridiculously compared HealthCare.gov to UPS, the trade war, the gold standard and the Great Depression, Bob’s favorite Krugman flip-flops, and more.
Some people claim gold isn’t “sound” money any more than dollars or euros. They argue that the gold supply can be inflated just like a fiat currency. After all, gold is constantly being pulled out of the ground, right? They say a gold standard actually makes the boom-bust cycle worse. But commentators who make this claim miss a number of important points.
The following article was written by Peter Schmidt. Any views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Peter Schiff or SchiffGold.
When Nixon closed the gold window in August 1971, the US found itself in exactly the same economic circumstances as Britain had in September 1931 when she reneged on her gold standard obligations. If Ben Bernanke’s theory on the Great Depression is correct – namely, that ‘countries that left gold earlier also recovered earlier’ – the United States should have received an enormous economic shot in the arm after finally freeing itself from its formerly golden fetters.
So what has all the resulting money creation and credit expansion from the Fed’s PhD economists with total freedom of action wrought since 1971? A cursory review of the automobile industry, which is not an unreasonable proxy for the entire US economy, reveals that the economy did not receive a shot in the arm by freeing central bankers from their “golden fetters”– unless of course the shot was loaded with some sort of highly-toxic economic poison.
