dollar, cause the price of gold to fall, and usher in an age of prosperity. In his testimony, Irwin asserted that the removal of gold backing from U.S. currency would cause gold prices to soar. But more importantly, he warned that a currency devoid of any intrinsic value would lead to massive inflation and unsustainable government debt. This minority opinion was completely ignored, and gold backing was removed.1 Contrary to everything the economists had predicted, the availability of additional reserves failed to stop the outflows of gold. Finally, in 1971 President Richard Nixon closed
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