This month marks fifty years since President Richard Nixon closed the “gold window” that had allowed foreign governments to exchange U.S. dollars for gold. Nixon’s action severed the last link between the dollar and gold, transforming the dollar into pure fiat currency. Since the “Nixon shock” of 1971, the dollar’s value—and the average American’s living standard—has continuously declined, while income inequality and the size, scope, and cost of government have risen. Since the beginning of this year, price inflation has increased much, and it could continue onward to exceed the 1970s-era...