Volcker '49's legacy

This is by way of supplementing “The legacy of Volcker ’49” (Alumni Scene, Jan. 16): Many people will say that the gold standard ended in 1933, when Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order preventing American citizens from exchanging their dollar bills for gold.

But the law requiring that the Federal Reserve hold gold backing against its currency remained on the books until 1968. And foreign central banks could get gold from the U.S. Treasury in exchange for dollars until Aug. 16, 1971.

The central concern with the euro is the budgetary deficits in European countries – not a relationship to gold or any other metal.