Will Grigg's Liberty Minute

August 12 2011

Forty years ago this August 15, the Nixon administration closed the ?gold window? ? that is, it defaulted on the federal government?s debts by severing the connection between the dollar and gold. This meant that debts would be paid with dollars that were, in effect, IOUs written to cover IOUs drawn on an empty bank account.

In the mid-1970s, Washington entered into a corrupt financial entente with Saudi Arabia in which Riyadh agreed to accept worthless fiat dollars in exchange for the world?s most coveted commodity. This petro-dollar accord provided a few decades of entirely artificial viability for the dollar: Since the Saudis and the OPEC cartel were willing to accept dollars for oil, the greenback remained the world?s reserve currency.

This arrangement meant giving the Saudis advanced military hardware and committing the U.S. military to defend the Saudis. It led to two wars against Iraq, a war against Libya, and may lead to war with Iran. And still, the dollar?s demise is unavoidable ? and with it will die our standard of living.

Few things are more painful than the inevitable end of an unsustainable fantasy.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.