Commentary: David Beckworth and Patrick Horan - Return to the gold standard? No David Beckworth and Patrick Horan July 30, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail Fifty years ago next month, with inflation rising and growing trade deficits, President Richard Nixon suspended the conversion of the U.S. dollar into gold. This decision effectively ended the Bretton Woods system — the final attempt at an international gold standard — and ushered in a new era of floating exchange rates between major currencies, rather than rates fixed by policymakers. The end of gold-backed money and fixed exchange rates has been controversial, but it remains the right decision. Former congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul decided to first enter politics because of his disappointment with Nixon’s decision. Some commentators have argued that floating exchange rates are a major source of instability and seek a return to some sort of Bretton Woods-style arrangement. Many argue that as a rules-based monetary policy, a new gold standard would constrain central banks (including the Federal Reserve) from creating inflation, and fiscal policymakers (including Congress) from running unhealthy budget deficits.