The Only Time in History When Owning Dollars Made Sense

July 30, 2025

There was a moment—just one—when holding U.S. dollars actually made sense.

But that moment has passed.

And clinging to it today could quietly cost you everything.

Because if you don’t understand why the dollar made sense back then, you’ll never see why it doesn’t now.

Bretton Woods: The Golden Illusion

In 1944, after World War II, global leaders sat down and made a deal.

It was called Bretton Woods. And it did one powerful thing:

It pegged the dollar to gold—$35 an ounce, fixed.

That made the U.S. dollar the most trusted currency in the world.

Because it wasn’t just paper.

It was a claim on real money.

That was the magic. The illusion. The hook.

And it worked…

Until the Dollar Became a Lie

By the late ‘60s, the U.S. had printed far more dollars than it could back with gold.

The world noticed.

France even started demanding gold instead of paper.

So in 1971, Nixon did the only thing he could.

He closed the gold window.

No more redemptions. No more backing. No more restraint.

And just like that, the dollar became a promise with no collateral.

From that point forward, owning dollars meant betting on government discipline.

Which, as history shows, is a dangerous bet to make.

The Volcker Mirage

The last time dollars felt “strong” was the early 1980s.

Inflation had exploded. Trust had cratered.

So Fed Chair Paul Volcker did something radical:

He jacked interest rates to nearly 20%.

Savers were rewarded. The dollar was powerful. But it came at a cost.

Businesses folded. Housing collapsed. Unemployment soared.

And once inflation was “tamed,” those juicy rates disappeared—never to return.

That was the bribe.

A brief, artificial moment when dollars felt safe again.

But make no mistake:

It was a controlled burn, not a foundation.

The Trap of Dollar Nostalgia

People aren’t holding today’s dollar.

They’re holding a memory.

A version of the dollar that only existed under extraordinary conditions:

✅ When it was backed by gold
✅ When it paid you to hold it
✅ When the government had something to lose

But that world is gone.

The longer you hold dollars based on history, the more wealth you forfeit to the present.

What You Can Do

Stop thinking of the dollar as a permanent store of value.

It’s not.

It’s a tool—useful only when you understand what it is (and isn’t).

If history teaches us anything, it’s this:

The only time in history when owning dollars made sense, was when they weren’t really dollars.

They were gold in disguise. Yield in disguise. Trust in disguise.

But today?

It’s just paper.

Spend it wisely.

—Death