In
Money: How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy, Steve Forbes and coauthor Elizabeth Ames explain how the lack of any anchor for the U.S. dollar after President Nixon closed the gold window in August 1971 has increased uncertainty and put us on a pure discretionary government fiat money system. The Federal Reserve, now in its 100th year of operation, has become a central bank that serves as the fiscal agent of a profligate government, not the guardian of sound money. The authors argue that the 2008 financial crisis would not have occurred under a true gold standard, nor would government have become the bloated Leviathan it now is. They advocate returning to the hallmark of a liberal economic order — namely, a stable-valued dollar convertible into gold.
