We may take this as the first lesson of central banking announcements: there may be no second chances: missing the moment for the decisive surprise intervention may place you in a very bad position. Long-lasting effects Another great epoch-changing statement was that of Richard Nixon some 40 years ago, on August 15, 1971, ending the Bretton Woods regime of fixed but adjustable exchange rates.
In that statement he remarked: “Let me lay to rest the bugaboo of what is called devaluation”. A bugaboo, according to Merriam-Webster is “an imaginary object of fear” or “something that causes fear or distress out of proportion to its importance”. Well imaginary or not, the ending of the Bretton Woods system did have consequences.