An Inauspicious Anniversary

Fifty-one years ago this week, President Richard Nixon slammed shut the “gold window” and eliminated the last vestige of the gold standard

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.

Consequences

When he announced the closing of the gold window, Nixon said, “Let me lay to rest the bugaboo of what is called devaluation,” and promised, “your dollar will be worth just as much as it is today.”

This was also a lie.

The dollar has lost more than 85% of its value since Nixon’s fateful decision, based on the CPI calculator. The purchasing power of a 1971 dollar is equal to less than 14 cents today.

Meanwhile, the dollar value of gold has gone from $35 an ounce to just under $1,800 an ounce today. In percentage terms, that’s a 4,970% increase.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/inauspicious-anniversary-nixon-slams-shut-gold-window