Yes, it was the French who bought US Gold Reserves and Nixon that took us off the Gold Standard coupled with the 1973 oil embargo that caused all the inflation in the 1970's.
The oil "embargo" didn't cause inflation; it reflected it. I use the term "embargo" loosely because the Arab oil embargo actually played a very minor role in the rise of oil prices in the 1970s; the primary culprit was the declining value of the U.S. dollar.
I think we were separated at birth....
Sorry to bother Pete but I read a report that china is selling the dollar short.....is this part of that event in your opinion ?