>> pkbrandon wrote:
>>> If Federal commitments like T-Bills and the FDIC are not honored, then
>>> currency is not likely to have any value either; it's just another
>>> Federal promise to pay.

> John David Galt wrote:
>> I'll bite: to pay what? If you mean gold, that promise ended in 1973.

pkbrandon wrote:
> Actually, what ended in 1973 was the Silver Certificate (the gold
> standard was ended in the '30's).

Nope. What ended in the '30s was the legality of owning gold in the US.
Gold was a controlled substance for 40 years -- and when FDR imposed the
rule (by executive order, not law), he did it on a Saturday when the
banks were closed, and had federal agents open and raid every safe
deposit box in the US, take the gold, and leave paper money in its place.

But foreign governments continued to be allowed to redeem dollars for
gold at the official price of $35/ounce until 1973, when Nixon "closed
the gold window".

Wikipedia is not a reliable source. Harry Browne and Howard Ruff wrote
books about it that are.