Changes

In August 1971, Nixon ended the convertibility of U.S. dollars into gold, in the face of mounting inflation and debts caused in part by out-of-control government spending and in part by the war. This caused the value of the dollar to enter a state of free fall. In June 1974, Nixon addressed this issue by signing a series of bilateral agreements with Saudi Arabia, in which the latter country would use its political influence to coerce [[OPEC]] into standardizing the sale of oil in dollars, therefore preserving the dollar's status as the global reserve currency in the post-Bretton Woods era.[https://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/072915/how-petrodollars-affect-us-dollar.asp][https://www.fxcm.com/uk/insights/what-is-the-petrodollar/] This agreement -- which is arguably unconstitutional because it undermines Congress' oversight of the valuation of money as prescribed in Article I, Section VIII[https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript] -- helped set the stage for the undue influence Saudi Arabia and its [[[[Neoconservatism|neocon]] allies have on the U.S. government today.