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119 posts on "Historical Echoes"
May 10, 2013

Historical Echoes: What Do the New York Fed and Grand Central Terminal Have in Common?

These two fine old entities—the New York Fed and Grand Central Terminal—have at least three things in common: they are both about 100 years old, they both feature beautiful vaulting in some part of their structure by the same “designer” masons, and they both go very deep into the ground.

Posted at 7:00 am in Historical Echoes | Permalink
April 19, 2013

Historical Echoes: Fedspeak as a Second Language

First there was Newspeak (from George Orwell’s book 1984, which intended to bend the thinking of the masses), then there was doublespeak (derived from Newspeak, meaning a deliberate disguising or distortion of meaning, and with its very own achievement award), and then there was Fedspeak (and likely many other “-speaks”).

Posted at 7:00 am in Historical Echoes | Permalink
April 12, 2013

Historical Echoes: The Invention of the ATM–A Case of Multiple Independent Discovery?

Amazingly, something resembling a drive-through automated bank teller existed back in 1941 (twenty-six years before the invention of the true ATM, or automated teller machine).

Posted at 7:00 am in Historical Echoes | Permalink | Comments (2)
April 5, 2013

Historical Echoes: Central Bank and Paper Money Innovator Given Death Sentence for His Efforts

In 1668, Johan Palmstruch, the head of Stockholms Banco, the precursor to the oldest central bank still operating today—the Swedish Riksbank—was charged and sentenced to death, according to Wikipedia and the Riksbank.

Posted at 7:00 am in Central Bank, Historical Echoes | Permalink
March 29, 2013

Historical Echoes: I’ll Take “Happy Birthday, Fed!” for $400, Alex

The Federal Reserve System is getting ready to celebrate its 100th birthday.

March 8, 2013

Historical Echoes: The Founding and Foundation of the New York Fed

On November 17, 1914, the New York Times reported on Treasury Secretary W. G. McAdoo’s involvement in the authorization of the Federal Reserve System’s operations, including a notice to member Banks, telegrams, and new Reserve notes.

Posted at 7:00 am in Historical Echoes | Permalink
March 1, 2013

Historical Echoes: Retirement Timing Discussions with Nary a Mention of Finances

One would be hard-pressed to find a discussion about the timing of retirement these days that doesn’t mention finances.

Posted at 7:00 am in Historical Echoes | Permalink
February 22, 2013

Historical Echoes: Cash or Credit? Payments and Finance in Ancient Rome

Imagine yourself a Roman citizen in the 1st Century B.C. You’ve gone shopping with your partner, who’s trying to convince you to buy a particular item.

Posted at 7:00 am in Historical Echoes | Permalink | Comments (7)
February 15, 2013

Historical Echoes: Bankers Behaving Calculatingly – with Slide Rules

How do bankers do calculations? Currently, on the computer (or calculator).

Posted at 7:00 am in Historical Echoes | Permalink
February 8, 2013

Historical Echoes: Neither a Lender nor a Borrower Be, or When the Bard Met the Fed

These lines come from a 1929 play, Shakespeare in Wall Street, a mash-up of famous Shakespearean characters from various plays set to the story of the stock market crisis just then in motion.

Posted at 7:00 am in Historical Echoes | Permalink
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