IVIV (8): Nixonizing U.S. Currency

[Richard Fiero]

kelber at mindspring.com wrote:
>I haven't found any good retrospective analyses of it.   How much 
>impact did it have?  Was it another power-play for the 
>super-rich?  How many super-rich were there back then?  It seems to 
>pale (as does most everything Nixon did) in light of the excesses of 
>Reagan and Dubya.
>
>Laura

The Nixon Shock took place on August 15, 1971.  It's unlikely that he 
signaled his intentions to dump the gold standard and break the 
Bretton Woods agreement any earlier since there would have been no 
shock because the market would have priced everything in advance.
Dates on Nixon's watch in 1970 were:
April 18, 1970
Nixon presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Apollo 13 astronauts.
April 30, 1970
Nixon announces the launching of military attacks on enemy 
sanctuaries in Cambodia.
May 4, 1970
National Guardsmen fire on antiwar demonstrators at Kent State 
University protesting the American invasion of Cambodia, killing four 
and wounding nine students.
July 9, 1970
Nixon announces a plan to establish the Environmental Protection 
Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
September 1970
The Jordan Crisis, also known as "Black September," marks violence 
against Palestinian attempts to overthrow King Hussein's monarchy.
December 21, 1970
Elvis Presley meets President Nixon in the Oval Office.

Goldbugs that inhabit the WSJ editorial pages and neoclassical econ 
types have agonized over the '71 shock ever since.