"You're two administrations too late. LBJ's insistence on prosecuting the Vietnam war WITHOUT a corresponding tax increase (1st time in history, btw) AND fund his idiotic Great Society scheme (''...we can have both guns and butter...'') was the ignition to both the US breaking off the Bretton Woods quasi-gold standard in 1971 and to the subsequent grotesque inflation of the 1970s. The oil sheikhs early on made the sensible ECONOMIC decision to raise the dollar-denominated price of oil because, when gold and dollars became infungible by Nixon's decree (effectively), they saw the handwriting on the wall that the dollar would begin a rapid decline."
Pardon me, but my response was not intended to generate hostility. Personally, I detest LBJ because from the facts it seems to me he commited an army of a half of a million not to victory but as a cover so that he could get his Great Society legislation through Congress. I was just trying to check my memory. IIRC, the Viet-Nam war was assessed as costing $150 billion in the dollars of the time. How much his surcharge ultimately cost, paid for hostilities and how much it hurt the economy are subjects for doctoral dissertations.
Geez, I didn't consider my response hostile, just merely accurate as to fact and occurrence.
My very sincere apologies to you! (believe me, when I intend to offend (rarely), there will be no doubt in your mind!).
Do please note that in my response there was absolutely no ad hominem comment, except if you choose to consider that ''you're two administrations too late'' is somehow, mysteriously, ad hominem.
No politician's stated estimate of what ANY programme will cost is even worth reading and, (ad hominem for the first time) certainly not believing for a nanosecond, and, if you haven't got that far in your political/economic views yet, you're too bloody dumb to breathe, let alone vote.