US President Richard Nixon’s 1971 decision to end the US dollar’s convertibility into gold had such far-reaching consequences that it took policymakers decades to learn to manage the new system. Now, digital technologies are driving a new monetary revolution that could end the greenback’s global primacy altogether.
PRINCETON – We are approaching the 50th anniversary of the so-called Nixon Shock, one the most decisive ruptures in monetary history. On August 15, 1971, US President Richard Nixon announced in a televised address that he was “closing the gold window.” By ending the dollar’s convertibility into gold (at an official rate of $35 per ounce), Nixon severed the millennia-long link between money and precious metals.
PRINCETON – We are approaching the 50th anniversary of the so-called Nixon Shock, one the most decisive ruptures in monetary history. On August 15, 1971, US President Richard Nixon announced in a televised address that he was “closing the gold window.” By ending the dollar’s convertibility into gold (at an official rate of $35 per ounce), Nixon severed the millennia-long link between money and precious metals.