
“Once upon a time, most paper currency in the world was backed by gold and directly exchangeable for it. On August 15, 1971, US President Richard Nixon ended the Bretton Woods System (Ghizoni, 1971), in what is now known as ‘The Nixon Shock’, allowing all currencies to float freely, with only the backing of the faith and credit of their issuing sovereign state. This type of currency is known as ‘fiat currency’, i.e., currency that is given value by government decree (Keynes, et al., 1978). This report will not discuss the relative merits and drawbacks of gold-backed currency and fiat-money, only the triple-bottom-line impacts of each.”
http://www.coindesk.com/microscope-real-costs-dollar/
Related posts:
No Way to Stop 3D Printed Guns, Says Homeland Security.
California gets face scanners to spy on everyone at once
Federal Judge Eviscerates Albuquerque's 'Asset Forfeiture' Racket
US Plots Conquest of Venezuela in Wake of Chavez' Death
Bloody Scenes from the Next Episode of Economic Crisis
Adam Brandon - NSA Spying in the Spotlight
Outrageous IRS FBAR Penalty: $500K Delinquency Turns Into $22M Fine
Meet “badBIOS,” the mysterious malware that jumps airgaps
Democratic senator votes against CIA nominee: Too many Bush-era policies continue
"The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ"
Selling Syria: White House pleads with Congress for 'limited' strikes
Pssst, Those White People Are Moving Back to Detroit
Leaked paper: EU wants 'guaranteed' access to US oil and gas
Mapping the Bitcoin Economy Could Reveal Users’ Identities
Americans and South Koreans Want Peace. Will Trump Listen?