Gold, Bretton Woods and “The Wizard of Oz”  It is 40 years since
the end of the Bretton Woods agreement and, indeed, the end of
the gold standard. Bretton Woods had been a financial discipline
put in place to prevent central bankers expanding the monetary
supply in an irresponsible way and to introduce fiscal
discipline. For those who believe in the power of happy
coincidences, the answer to current financial issues might just
lie in the number "40". I'll explain.  The Bretton Woods system
collapsed exactly 40 years ago under the weight of US trade
deficits and the cost of funding the Vietnam War, which meant
that gold and international currencies were freely floated. It
was to be the birth of fiat currencies (Latin for "let it be
done"—in other words, the currency’s value is decreed by
government) and it ushered in (initially) an era of
unprecedented prosperity.  Ironically, fiat currencies have a
long history, originating in China in the 11th Century during
the Song Dynasty (they cannot say that they were n