As with many things in history, I don't think there is a single year that we can point to as the turning point, since it's a somewhat gradual shift. Think abou

As with many things in history, I don't think there is a single year that we can point to as the turning point, since it's a somewhat gradual shift. Think about it this way - a few hundred years ago, it was commonplace to pay dues to the government using precious metals (like gold). In some parts of the world, this is still the case, but in the majority of the developed world, public and private debts are paid with money that gets its value by fiat. This change can't happen overnight, even if you force it to; if people continue to accept gold (for example) has having liquid value, then it will continue to be used as a currency. I wouldn't even use the beginning or end of Bretton Woods as the turning point (though it was certainly a turning point), because the point is less whether people can convert currency to gold than it is a question of whether they do.