Money: Shift in Gold

With his own franc weakening on world markets, General de Gaulle has suspended his offensive against Fort Knox—for a while. He had been consistently chipping away at U.S. gold reserves by buying bullion with the dollars that France earns from trade and tourism. In October, for the first time since early 1965, the French failed to make their regular monthly conversion of $34 million into gold. Reason for the shift: rising imports of goods and outflows of capital are cutting into France's once hefty balance of payments surplus. The country has few dollars to spare, and its bankers...

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