Fiat currency is money that has value only because of government regulation.

1. The Bretton Woods System was a monetary management system that established the rules for monetary policy of the world's major industrial states in the mid 20th century. As WWII was still being fought, 730 delegates from all 44 Allied nations gathered at the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States, for the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference. The delegates deliberated upon and signed the Bretton Woods Agreements during the first three weeks of July 1944.
The Bretton Woods Agreements established institutions such as the IMF and IMBRD. As part of the agreement, various exchanged rates were tied to the U.S. dollar, at this point backed still by Gold Standard. However as the U.S. began running trade and budget deficits, only small percentage of the circulating dollar was actually backed by gold. This caused various member states of the Bretton Woods agreement to withdraw. Finally on August 15, 1971, Richard Nixon and the United States unilaterally terminated convertibility of the dollar to gold and the dollar became a fiat currency. This day is known as Nixon Shock.
2. Fiat currency is money that has value only because of government regulation.
3. On August 15, 1971, after Richard Nixon imposed a 90 day price and wage freeze in order to curb inflation, he also withdrew the U.S. from The Bretton Woods agreement and ended the Gold Standard. These measures came as the price of Vietnam war was skyrocketing and U.S. was running trade and budget deficits.