The Nixon Shock converted dollars into hegemon-controlled IOUs

Evidence

Non-American central banks suddenly had no alternative than to use dollars instead of gold as reserves to back the value of their currency. The dollar began to resemble an … IOU. After the so-called Nixon Shock, the global financial system was, effectively, backed by IOUs issued by a hegemon who could decide what the foreign IOU-holders could do with their IOUs – and what they were not allowed to do with them. — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 559

Categorization

• DEFINE: Lays out the Nixon Shock mechanism that becomes the chapter’s analytical engine — dollar-as-IOU is the load-bearing concept.
• XREF: Connects to earlier work on trade institutions and reputation — the IOU system is an institutional solution to a credibility problem. — connects to: A deficit country’s currency can grow hegemonic precisely because of that deficit — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, 197; Loose monetary policy plus oil shocks triggered the 1973 economic crisis — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An…, 861; Dollar hegemony was secured by deliberately suppressing American working-class wages — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, 199 (+1 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, 559

Broader Connections

• Loose monetary policy plus oil shocks triggered the 1973 economic crisis #qualifies (0.72) — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 861