the executive order could have been challenged or over turned by congress or through the supreme court. we are in a time of severe economic distress so i'm missing your point on that one. it wasn't related to the decline of the value of the dollar it was intended to increase the value of the dollar. when we stopped using the "gold standard", the value of the dollar became highly subjective.
Just to get the economics correct here... It was to decrease the value of the dollar. Before the revaluation it took only about $20 to buy an oz of gold, after the revaluation you had to come up with $35 for that same oz of gold because each dollar was now worth less.
Fast forward to 1971 just before we left the gold standard, it still took $35 to purchase an oz. After we left the gold standard it has taken more and more dollars to purchase the same oz. Note today you have to come up with about $1,750 to buy that same single oz of gold. The dollar is worth far less today than in 1971 or in 1933 because you have to come up with so many more dollars to buy the same oz of gold.
In 1971 people would likely have laughted at you if you told them that four decades later (in 2011) that this $35 oz of gold (a price held steady for the previous four decades) will require 50 times ($1,750 / $35) as much money to buy that same little oz of gold.
