The world changed on the 15th of August 1971. After almost a quarter of a millennium broadly tied to gold, the money of the world was cut free. The consequences have been dramatic and far-reaching. We are still grappling with them. Foreword The pressured decision of an ultimately disgraced US President a mere generation ago to break with centuries of accepted wisdom changed our world and continues to profoundly affect our lives. Developments as disparate and apparently unrelated as the outcome of the Cold War, the accelerating pattern of boom, bubble & bust, the stunning rise of China, the extraordinary spread of…

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