50 Years Off the Gold Standard

I was in college when Nixon took us off the long admired gold standard and it has been a subject of controversy ever since. So many traditional conservatives argued it would be a disaster for the dollar to no longer be backed by gold. But much to my surprise, my econ professors in both college and grad school argued that it was the best thing that Nixon or any president had ever done, namely because the gold standard was artificial and by going off it, the dollar was now based on something real -- wages and prices -- and it was an argument that stuck and has been proven to be correct.  

That is in the opinion of most economists. There are still those who disagree and the guest on this week's WealthTrack is one of them. So I submit Consuelo Mack's program as an example of the traditional argument that the dollar must be backed by something like gold. I'm sure there are plenty of places where you can find the opposite argument. 

And as a bonus, this program also has an interview with Wall Street guru Jason Zwieg.  Enjoy and enjoy this beautiful weekend.  

50 YEARS OFF THE GOLD STANDARD - A message from Consuelo - August 12, 2021

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Sponsored by: August 12, 2021   Dear WEALTHTRACK Subscriber, 50 years ago, on August 15, 1971, President Richard Nixon shocked the financial world by ending the convertibility of the dollar to gold, upending the monetary and currency exchange system that had been in place since 1944. This week Nick Sargen, author of Global Shocks, and a former global economist and strategist for several leading investment firms joins us for a WEALTHTRACK podcast. He will not only explain the consequences of that momentous decision, still being felt today, but will also warn us about the destabilizing potential of current monetary and fiscal policies. You can find the podcast on wealthtrack.com. On WEALTHTRACK television this week, while public television conducts it’s summer fund-raising drive, we are revisiting an interview with Jason Zweig, a highly respected thought leader in financial journalism.   Since 2008 Zweig has written the widely read The Intelligent Investor column for The Wall Street Journal. That, of course, is the name of the investment classic written by Benjamin Graham, considered to be the father of value investing.  Zweig has an intimate knowledge of the thinking of Graham because he edited a revised edition of The Intelligent Investor which Warren Buffett calls “by far the best book on investing ever written.”  Zweig is also the author of several books of his own, including Your Money & Your Brain, one of the first books to explore the neuroscience of investing, and The Devil’s Financial Dictionary, a satirical glossary of Wall Street.  For financial historians and serious market observers the current era has all the signs  of a developing market bubble.  Money is abundant, a wide range of financial assets have risen to record or near record levels, and enormous amounts of money are flowing into stocks, including new companies being offered as IPOs (Initial Public Offerings), and their hybrid, SPACs, (Special Purpose Acquisition Companies) formed to take unidentified private companies public. Private equity funds are flourishing and bonds continue to attract huge sums.   Demand for residential real estate is soaring as are home prices. And despite recent  dramatic declines, innovative products such as digital currencies have appreciated at breathtaking speed. Speculative trading by individual investors has also increased as a new growing community of online traders has emerged as a potent market-moving force.  Zweig will share his analysis of the current market climate and his advice for investors. We encourage you to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where you can watch this show, along with past programs featuring Zweig and other financial thought leaders and great investors. Of course you can also see us on your local public television station, or on our website.  And the WEALTHTRACK podcast is available on Stitcher and SoundCloud as well as iTunes and Spotify. As always, we appreciate the time you spend with us. Have a super weekend, and make the week ahead a healthy, profitable and productive one! Best regards, Consuelo