Finally, we conclude our non-consecutive series on the history of the history of the US dollar with part 5, looking at the story of the dollar following the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system. (This podcast was actually recorded over the course of 2 commutes — the first half in the morning commute to work, and the second one in the afternoon commute home.)
Join Prof CJ as he discusses:
- How the ending the ‘gold window’ in 1972 led to high inflation, which led to negative consequences (including some not purely economic) for society
- The approaches of the Ford and Carter administrations to dealing with inflation
- How, under first Carter and then Reagan, Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker (appointed in 1979) used high interest rates to staunch (though not completely stop) the erosion of the US dollar’s value in the early-1980s
- The reasons that the dollar still (mostly) operates as the world reserve currency despite its obvious flaws and vulnerabilities, including the meaning of the term ‘petrodollar’
- How things will go wrong, sooner or later, with this system, and how the remedy used previously by Volcker (high interest rates) could not realistically be used today by the Fed, even if they wanted to do so
- A few thoughts on ways to prepare for this eventuality
Links to Previous Episodes in this Series:
- Ep. 0021: A History of the US Dollar Part 1
- Ep. 0026: A History of the US Dollar Part 2
- Ep. 0033: A History of the US Dollar Part 3
- Ep. 0035: A History of the US Dollar Part 4
(“Business Graph with Dollar Stock Photo” courtesy jscreationzs at freedigitalphotos.net)
External Links
Prof CJ’s Picks (buy from Amazon via these links to help support the show at no additional cost to you)