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The Weak Dollar Is Not Your Friend Morgan Housel You'd probably never know it, but Richard Nixon has been picking your pockets. Ever since the former president agreed in 1971 to suspend the dollar's convertibility into gold, the value of the greenback has been backed simply by the capitalistic vision that is America -- more specifically, the government's ability to tax citizens like you. Without anything tangible backing its value, you might be stuffing your wallet with confetti, for all you know. OK, that's an elephant of an exaggeration. Tricky Dick isn't pillaging your bank account, and he was probably looking out for America's best interests when he decided to take those drastic actions. He isn't at all responsible for the dollar's current misgivings. He died more than a decade ago, making pocket-picking somewhat difficult, but that's beside the point.
Here's the real issue: Ever since we ditched the gold standard, the government has found it far too easy to create cash, and we've become complacent, printing money like it's nobody's business. Gargantuan trade deficits and unbalanced budgets have left the value of the greenback withering away, compared to its global peers. That, my friends, can cost you some serious coin. The Cleavers ain't got nothing on us When the value of the dollar falls, two things happen in the global economy:
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