AI-powered
podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
The US's Network Effect
Countries were hesitant to redeem gold from the United States too quickly due to fear of retaliation. However, the French and the UK started redeeming their gold, prompting others to follow suit. This led to Nixon temporarily ending gold redeemability. Without a global gold standard, trading between countries became difficult. The US regained confidence by leveraging its military and economic power. They offered military support to countries like Saudi Arabia in exchange for selling oil only in dollars and investing their surpluses in US treasuries. The US also benefited from existing offshore dollars and the demand for the currency created by debts and taxes.