In brief, over the course of the 1960s the United States governments’ increased obligations, not in the least exacerbated by the conflicts in Korea and Vietnam, meant that the money supply could not keep up with fiscal expansion on the Gold Standard/with the USD as a global reserve currency as established by the Bretton Woods system. This meant that the dollar appreciated, making US goods prohibitively expensive for foreign buyers (stunting exports) while the dollar gut kept interests rates high, stunting access to credit (and hampering economic growth). The high value of the dollar increased its purchasing power, further fueling appreciation as of dollars flowed abroad to buy relatively cheaper foreign goods. President Nixon’s solution was to unilaterally sever the US convertibility into gold, allowing for a monetary expansion. The inflated currency’s depreciation infuriated foreign central bankers who held large dollar reserves, but in the words of Nixon’s Secretary of the Treasury John Connaly: “The dollar’s our currency, but your problem.”