Does the world no longer believe in an almighty US dollar?

August 15, 1971 Richard Nixon interrupted the episode of a television series Bonanzato announce a « new economic policy » to American families who gathered in front of television receivers that night. Among the many presidential measures were the 10 % import customs and the abolition of the possibility of converting the US dollar to gold.

Instead of the evil « international monetary speculators », who gave their announcement, Nixon was more concerned with the political response of Americans who promised socializing with the Cartwright family at Ponderos Ranch. Nevertheless, the consequences were extremely severe. The US has never introduced the so -called gold standard, although this is supposed to be a temporary measure.

The so -called Nixon shock marked the end of one financial period and the beginning of the new one. International monetary framework, in 1944, based at the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in which the American dollar, backed by gold, represented the sun around which all other currencies circulated, failed. Nixon’s shock has encouraged a new era of currency with a slipping exchange rate, rapid lending and global capital flows that were not related to gold and were less and less restricted by governments.

More than half a century later, the world has been facing a similar shock. Administration Donald Trump introduced an aggressive customs regime in early April, which with the amount of duties and the simple methodology they are based on, also stunned many supporters. Due to the resistance in the financial markets, Trump then announced a three -month partial break, and investors are still on the thorns. The dollar, which is usually strengthened during financial and economic problems, has fallen instead.