Nixon 1971: The Day the U.S. President Made the Fiat Dollar the Gold Standard — And Nobody Voted On

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 09:18:57 +0200

On August 15, 1971, President Richard Nixon interrupted Sunday night television to make an announcement that would quietly reshape the entire global financial system. Without a single vote in Congress, without consulting America's allies, and without any public debate, Nixon severed the last link between the U.S. dollar and gold — ending the Bretton Woods system that had governed international finance since World War II.
What followed was the birth of the fiat money era we still live in today. Inflation spiraled. Oil prices quadrupled. The petrodollar system emerged. And the rules of money changed forever — not through democratic process, but through a secret weekend meeting at Camp David attended by just fifteen men.
This is the story of how one decision, made behind closed doors, turned the dollar from a gold-backed promise into pure government decree — and why you're still paying the price for it more than fifty years later.
Sources and further reading:

Federal Reserve History — "Nixon Ends Convertibility of U.S. Dollars to Gold"

U.S. State Department — "Nixon and the End of the Bretton Woods System, 1971–1973"

Jeffrey E. Garten — "Three Days at Camp David: How a Secret Meeting in 1971 Transformed the Global Economy"

World Gold Council — "The Bretton Woods System"

Bank for International Settlements — Working Paper No. 684, "Triffin: Dilemma or Myth?"
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