To stabilize the economy and combat the 1970
inflation rate of 5.84%,
[3] on August 15, 1971, President Nixon imposed a 90-day wage and price freeze, a 10 percent import surcharge, and, most importantly, "closed the gold window", ending convertibility between US dollars and gold. The President and fifteen advisers made that decision without consulting the members of the international monetary system, so the international community informally named it the
Nixon shock. Given the importance of the announcement — and its impact upon foreign currencies — presidential advisers recalled that they spent more time deciding when to publicly announce the controversial plan than they spent creating the plan.
[4] Nixon was advised that the practical decision was to make an announcement before the
stock markets opened on Monday (and just when Asian markets also were opening trading for the day). On August 15, 1971, that speech and the price-control plans proved very popular and raised the public's spirit. The President was credited with finally rescuing the American public from
price-gougers, and from a foreign-caused exchange crisis.
[4][5]
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_Shock
