It is, however, a fascinating and for the most part well-executed case study of how some important economic decisions were made. The book’s title notwithstanding, they weren’t really made at Camp David in mid-August 1971. That gathering was mainly for hammering out details, helping Nixon prepare his speech to the nation announcing the move and ensuring that the Fed chair Burns would endorse the plan. More memorable by far is Garten’s account of how the Treasury secretary Connally and his under secretary for monetary affairs, Paul A. Volcker, devised a plan of action over the preceding months. But this “most significant monetary agreement in the history of the world,” as Nixon described it at the time, had unraveled by early 1973.

Source: International New York Times July 16, 2021 09:00 UTC