The economic crisis resulted in the devaluation of the dollar, which lost its convertibility into gold. The story, of course, has more complex facets: the French, among others, aspired to undermine the dollar’s dominance on world markets; during the Vietnam War, the Americans abused their dominant position, printing money to finance the war, making Europeans pay for it as well, and exporting inflation; De Gaulle threatened to avail himself of the ability to convert dollars into gold at Fort Knox, and Nixon, in response, abolished this right.
