The Nixon Decision
It is quite possible to contend that the price at which gold is able to trade today is a consequence of the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. On August 15, 1971, the then President of the United States, the late Richard Nixon, decided to suspend the convertibility of the US dollar into gold. That decision brought the Bretton Woods system to a screeching halt, and efforts to revive it came to an end in March 1973.
The decision also put the final nail in the coffin of lingering hopes to bring back the classical gold standard that reigned supreme from 1880 to 1914. The Nixon decision ushered in the era of floating exchange rates as well. Some 43 years later, the effects of the Nixon decision are now permeating the Guyana economy with the price of gold being 2,788 percent higher than it was in 1971 and allowing many Guyanese adventurous enough to brave the harsh forests and terrain to escape the clutches of poverty. One might no doubt wonder about the reason that the Bretton Woods System was created and how could a decision of one person bring it down much to the benefit of a country like Guyana so many years later.
Long March
The long march to favourable gold prices started from Bretton Woods, a town in New Hampshire, where the agreement to set up the
