Much has been made -- including by me -- of the several ways in which the populist President Trump resembles the populist President Jackson. This was the temporary abandonment of the gold standard and the devaluation of the dollar. I have quibbled with Ahamed’s framing of a “temporary abandonment of the gold standard and the devaluation of the dollar.” It was no such thing. Revaluing the dollar from $20.67/oz to $35/oz was the necessary and proper re-calibration of the gold standard to adjust it for the interwar rise of commodities prices. Although Lehrman was my mentor in all things gold standard that quibble is here beside the point.

Source: Forbes March 06, 2017 00:02 UTC