Fifty-one 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, on Aug. 15, 1971, 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.
With the impact of sanctions tanking the ruble, the Russian central bank announced it would buy gold from local banks at a fixed rate. The move had the desired effect. The ruble quickly recovered. But the Central Bank of Russia abandoned the de facto gold standard almost as fast as it implemented it.
Why?
The mainstream thinking is the gold standard failed. But as Peter Schiff explained in his podcast, the gold standard didn’t fail. We failed to stay on the gold standard.
The gold standard succeeded so well that the government went off of it.”
Labor market productivity has been dropping for decades. And you can trace the plunge back to the demise of the gold standard.
US labor market productivity plummeted in the third quarter of 2021. Revisions to the data showed a 5.2% drop in productivity, even worse than the dismal initial reading last month. It was the worst productivity decline since 1960.
It’s become increasingly hard to hide the inflation problem. Even without the sizzling hot CPI numbers, the average American experiences rising prices every day at the grocery store and the gas station.
With it becoming harder and harder to blow inflation off as transitory, apologists for the central bank and the federal government have shifted to a new strategy — try to convince you that inflation is good for you.
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.
