From 1870 to 1970, the ratio of debt to GDP in the US averaged 1.48. Today, the ratio is 3.47, which means that the economy bears the weight of three times the debt that it did up until 1970. Not coincidentally, it was August 15, 1971 that the President Nixon made the dollar no longer redeemable in gold, which meant that the Federal Reserve could – and has – printed money like there’s no tomorrow. {image} Notice that the Money Stock growth rate was not great immediately after Nixon closed the gold window. Many members of the Fed knew the importance of not issuing too many dollars relative to the amount of gold held ... (full story)