by John Tamny
Forbes
Presidents get the dollar they want, and George W. Bush wanted a weaker one. Bush’s departure from the Reagan/Clinton era of a largely strong, stable dollar as a measure of constant objective value was one of his worst policy decisions, and it’s one that no president subsequent to Bush has chosen to reverse.
When Bush entered the White House in January of 2001, a dollar was worth 1/260th of a gold ounce. When he exited in January of 2009, a dollar purchased 1/874th of a gold ounce.
To be clear, gold itself doesn’t move as much as the currencies in which it’s measured do. Gold’s constancy explains why it’s long been used to define money. Against the dollar, gold rose over 230 percent during Bush’s presidency.