In the Western literature on economics, the topic of gold is only touched upon superficially. Those authors who write enthusiastically about the meaning of gold are ridiculed. But it was not always so. It is worth recalling that US President Richard Nixon announced on August 15, 1971, the termination of the Gold Standard. After that, countries could no longer demand from the US government to exchange US dollars for physical gold.
However, historical literature does not say that this was only a temporary solution. In his address to the nation, Nixon announced a temporary cessation of the exchange of dollars for gold, since he wanted to hold a new international conference like Bretton Woods in 1944 in order to establish a new exchange rate, after which the Gold Standard should be renewed again.
James Rickards says in his article that he personally spoke with participants in those events that confirmed to him in a personal conversation that the cessation of the exchange of dollars for gold was temporary. Then everything should have returned, as before. However, not all Nixon's plans were implemented. The conference really took place. It was held in Washington in December 1971. The price of one ounce was increased from $ 35 to $ 38 (later to $ 42.22). But there was no return to the Gold Standard.
Nixon began a crisis in his political career because of the election campaign of 1972, so he was not up to gold. Revaluation of the cost of one ounce of gold really happened as planned, but it was no longer possible to exchange dollars for precious metal. In addition, the IMF officially announced in 1974 that gold was no longer a monetary asset, although it had several tons of gold in safes. Now the IMF's gold reserve is 2.814 tons, which makes it the third owner of precious metals in the world after the United States and Germany.
Since then, the role and importance of gold began to be hushed up in educational literature. For most people, this precious metal has become a commodity that is mined in the fields. Therefore, it is not surprising why the modern generation of people still does not know why it is necessary to own gold.