Arguably, it is generally accepted that the foreign and domestic policies of the Ronald Regan Administration won the cold war. Outside of limited military force, the greatest weapon used to win the cold war was Finance. At the end of World War Two, the Russians, followed closely by the Japanese, had the worlds larges gold reserves. In response, during the late 1960s and early 1970s the Congress removed the United States currency from its gold reserves opting to have the federal reserve base the economy off the gross domestic product; or literally, the expected sweat off the backs of the American workforce for the following year. This was the first step. The second would be to militarily outspend the Soviets while they were bogged down in Afghanistan. While the soviets were still dealing in vacuum tube technologies, a ban on exports of IC Chip technology was emplaced, the Federal Reserve dropped the interest rates and supercharged a our own lagging economy. We would never have brought that war to a conclusion if it werent for the forces of free market finances. This then demonstrates the problem of a temporary economy based upon limited carbon based fuels. Without a robust economy we cannot operate the manufacturing base of the arsenal of the republic. Without an unlimited supply of energy, we have no economy.

Yank My Doodle, It's a Dandy!