Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Not so Great Moments in Economic and Political History

In this August 1971 speech, Richard Nixon takes action to "defend the American dollar" by closing the gold window and ending the Bretton Woods era. It is a masterpiece of political double-speak and concealed intentions, and signaled a multi-year decline in the value of the dollar against the currencies of our major trading partners. The Nixon administration gave those that followed a living example of how not to run an economy. In this speech you'll hear many of the familiar nameless demons wreaking havoc on the financial markets through speculation. It's like deja vu all over again.



HT: Kids Prefer Cheese

1 comment:

  1. Fascinating clip. I've read so much about that event but I'm not sure if I ever actually saw the speech. Back then Walter Wriston head of Citibank stated that international financial were so complicated that nobody understood them completely. What would he think today with all the esoteric derivatives whipping around the globe?
    You gotta admit though that Nixon looks good - for a crook!

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