in 1971, at bretton woods, the us went off the gold standard allowing the dollar to float. shortly after that, the price of oil was pegged to gold rather than the dollar by opec. the 70s were marked by oil shocks, recessions and inflation in the us. from fiscal years 1970 to 1997; although the country was nominally at peace during most of this time, the federal budget deficit accelerated, topping out (in absolute terms) at $290 billion for 1992.