One of the central offender liable for the inert American economy was oil production in the Middle East. For americans the 1970s characterized a decade of economic stagnation, unusally high on unemployment and constant financial concern. Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Carter all pursue to remedy the daunting economic conditions of the decade, but they were all largely unsuccessful. For example, a barrel of oil composed by OPEC was based off the value of the American dollar. With the dollar no longer appropriate backed by gold, its value was fluid. Resentful over the decision to remove the dollar from the gold standard and its loss of net profits, OPEC determined to change the value of the barrel of oil from the American dollar to gold.