On August 15, 1971, President Nixon announced on TV 3 dramatic changes in economic policy. He imposed a wage-price freeze. He ended the Bretton Woods international monetary system. And he imposed a temporary surcharge (tariff) on all imports. The Bretton Woods system was created towards the end of World War II and involved fixed exchange rates with the U.S. dollar as the key currency – but also a role for gold linked to the dollar at $35/ounce.
Almost immediately after President Richard Nixon took the US off the gold standard, the price of gold began to rise and the dollar lost value and has been increasing in value, cyclically, ever since.
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