Historical figures whose lives help explain today's global economy. From Silk to Silicon presents a future full of human possibility.

The former dean of the Yale School of Management and Undersecretary of Commerce in the Clinton administration chronicles the 1971 August meeting at Camp David, where President Nixon unilaterally ended the last vestiges of the gold standard – breaking the link between gold and the dollar – transforming the entire global monetary system. Over the course of three days – from August 13 to 15, 1971 – at a secret meeting at Camp David, President Richard Nixon and his brain trust changed the course of history. Before that weekend, all national currencies were valued to the U.S. dollar,...