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Post by mirrororchid on Aug 2, 2021 6:16:46 GMT -5
Nixon took us off the gold standard because the Soviets started demanding payments in gold instead of paper dollars. www.historytoday.com/history-matters/richard-nixons-opening-china-and-closing-gold-window
The Bretton Woods system had pegged the dollar at a fixed price in gold ($35 an ounce) and required other nations to maintain their currency values in fixed relation to the dollar. This provided both stability and liquidity as the international economy recovered from the Second World War, but the dollar had become overvalued as other nations, notably West Germany and Japan, began to operate trade surpluses with the US. In 1958, 1960 and 1968 there had been threatened runs on US gold reserves as foreign dollar-holders began to exchange their surplus greenbacks for gold for fear of a surprise dollar devaluation.I'm curious about the Soviet role. Gold is fungible. I suppose Soviets could easily get gold from somebody, but if they were going to, why wait until 1971?
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