by BigBallinStalin on Fri Sep 14, 2012 10:53 pm
Well, not quite. He prohibited the release of US Mint gold coins, which were on sale for a very short time.
What he did exactly was prevent average Americans from redeeming their cash for gold, which allegedly was backing every US dollar that was printed.
Roughly until after the mid 1940s, foreign countries could redeem their USD for gold from the US government; however, that was largely clamped down on, but on the margin it meagerly continued until Nixon closed the "gold windows" in the 1960s.
Since then, we see the rapid expansion of the supply of USD from the federal reserve. Why? Because they're no longer face the incentives which previously bound them (US dollars backed by gold).
So, if you're a mega-millionaire, you can always invest your money to earn a return above the real rate of inflation. If you're like everyone else, lol haha, sorry, but the US government and the federal reserve have been screwing you over and will continue to do so--in the patriotic call to "save capitalism from itself." It's like requiring you to be sacrificed for the mistakes of the government while people toss Patriotic Confetti madly into the air.