On Dec 24, 12:50 pm, John David Galt <j...@diogenes.sacramento.ca.us>
wrote:
> >> 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.

"Ruff's Little Book of Big Fortunes in Gold & Silver: A Middle Class
License to Print Money"
lends all sorts of confidence, man.