On April 27, 1937 the U.S. Social Security system made its 1st benefit payment.  This is very significant because 72 years later the system is still "working".  But watch out, the Madoff Ponzi Scheme was nothing compared to Social Security. The last payment isn't too far off... we'll just need a "bailout" to keep the largest Ponzi Scheme of all time, known as Social Security, alive.  Don't count on it.

On April 23, 2003  U.S. President Bush signed legislation that authorized the design change of the nickel for release in 2004. It was the first change to the coin in 65 years. The change, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, was planned to run for only two years before returning to the previous design.  Does it really matter?  Nickels are becoming about as useless as a penny... if you saw one of these on the ground would you really even pick it up?  I'll barely waste any energy to grab a quarter... and with massive inflation on the way I might even be walking right past $5 bills.

Earth Day is celebrated Aprill 22.  It is a day to create awareness and appreciation for the environment and founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970.  Earth Day symbol is to the left.

You may not have heard as much about Earth Day this year... everyone is more worried about their short term financial well being rather than the long term environmental well being of mother earth.  Americans are broke and the environment will soon follow if we don't dramatically change our habits now.

On April 21, 753 B.C. twin brothers Romulus and Remus, sons of the god Mars, founded the ancient city of Rome. 

Like all great nations, Rome's dominance eventually came to an end.  Economic factors were a major cause of the Fall of Rome. Inflation was the main reason for the fall... Emperors, like Nero, debased the currency in order to supply a demand for more coins. This meant that a coin no longer had actual value, it became representative of the silver or gold the coin had once contained.  This led to severe inflation, depending on how you define inflation.

Other problems also contributed to Rome's financial fall: poor management, the dole, and hoarding.  Inflation was the largest factor that ultimately led to the fall of Rome.  I hope the Fed starts raising interest rates at the right time so I don't have to read about how inflation led to the Fall of the United States.

On April 19, 1933 the United States took the dollar off the gold standard.  Above is a gold standard U.S. dollar bill.  It is identified as a "United States Note" rather than a "Federal Reserve Note".

The April 20, 1933 New York Times Headline read as follows "GOLD STANDARD DROPPED TEMPORARILY TO AID PRICES AND OUR WORLD POSITION; BILL READY FOR CONTROLLED INFLATION.”

Under the gold standard the government would stand ready to trade dollars for gold at a fixed rate.  Under this system the dollar is "as good as gold".  Now that is not the case and a dollar is as good as the government behind it.

In 1991, Ben Bernanke got together with Harold James and wrote a paper entitled "The Gold Standard, Deflation, and Financial Crisis in the Great Depression: An International Comparison".  Check out more here.

They basically stated that countries that went off the gold standard experienced immediate growth while countries that stayed on the standard had a decline in output.  Going off the standard has resulted in instant recovery and growth for struggling economies, but is it really a valid long term solution?  We're just printing money whenever we need it... creating an inflation time bomb.  The fed is planning on raising interest rates when inflation starts to kick in, but is it really possible to make that move at just the right time?  I don't think so. 

The Great San Francisco Earthquake happened on this day in 1906.  Shaking from this 7.8 magnitude monster was felt from Los Angeles to Oregon and as far east as central Nevada.  The financial implications were felt much further away.

The San Francisco Earthquake was one of the first major catastrophes to hit the insurance industry.  Total damage was in excess of $500 million... and we're talking 1906 value... around $11,833,495,458.68 when converted to today's dollars...that's a lot of cash.  About $180 million of that was insured. 

Large amounts of gold came into the United States as foreign insurers paid claims on their San Francisco policies out of home funds. This prompted the Bank of England to disfavor American finance bills and raise interest rates. These policies pushed the United States into a recession and ultimately contributed to the start of the Panic of 1907.

Check out more interesting info on the probability of earthquakes here.
Check out more on the Panic of 1907 here.

On this day in 1937, Daffy Duck made his debut in Porky's Duck Hunt.  The Warner Brother's (a subsidiary of Time Warner) character has become an icon in America and can still be found in Looney Tunes and Tiny Tunes episodes.

In 2008, Warner Brothers broke the all-time studio record, grossing $1.753 billion... That broke the previous record of $1.711 billion set by Sony in 2006.

Take a trip with me, on this day back in 1943… a chemistry experiment yields LSD.  Now press play on the video above and continue reading... 
 
While researching pharmaceuticals, Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman accidently consumed a synthetic drug he’d created 5 years earlier: lysergic acid diethylamide. Partay tiiiime! He described his unusual experience in his notes, saying that, “I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors.” Of course he took it again to confirm his reaction. Uh huh, sure thing doc. So thank you Dr. Hoffman for greatly enhancing the 1960’s with his “mind-expanding” drug. Hallelujah hallucinations! Thanks to LSD the financial landscape is changed forever!
 
Let’s be honest. The United States wastes way too much money trying to fight the losing effort known as a drug war. Marijuana is one of California’s biggest cash crops… do you know how much government revenue legalizing weed would bring in?! If people want to spend their lives doing drugs, then let them. I'm not saying living in an alley with infected track marks is acceptable, but we waste billions every year fighting this incredibly ineffective war on drugs when we could just creatively embrace and regulate the use while simultaneously increasing our revenue stream exponentially! Yeah, maybe a lot of people would die, but that’s a personal choice – survival of the fittest. Weed em out!

You know you love the Beatles...and take this article with a grain of salt.

ICED OUT.

Lets take it back 97 years to April 15, 1912:

At approximately 2:20 am, the mighty Titanic sank to the bottom of the ocean 2 hours and 40 minutes after side-swiping an iceberg. It was a maiden voyage turned maritime disaster. The sweetest ride on the sea went from a port to a plankton parking lot before it even had a chance to turn a profit. What a shame.

And speaking of ice and sinking... How bout that financial crisis in Iceland?! Last October, Iceland's three largest banks were nationalized and declared bankrupt. The country's currency, the Krona, lost 75% of its value almost immediately and half of the population was bankf*cked and broke. Central banks failed to build up currency reserves, which Forbes described as “unpardonable neglect.” And due to massive political unrest, the government was overthrown earlier this year. Leave it to a currency crisis and banking sector collapse to really f*ck everything up. The upside? Cheap Icelandic vacations! Cause who doesn't like Bjork and pickled whale blubber?

The similarities between icebergs and Iceland go way beyond ICE ICE BABY.
Such as failing to adequately prepare for disasters.. The “unsinkable” Titanic did the “unthinkable” and sank! 20 lifeboats for over 2,000 passengers? Puh-lease. Guess who didn't get a seat? The irrelevant impoverished people, of course. I guess in the end its better to drown in Icelandic debt than in an ice-cold ocean.... but the important lesson here is to always prepare for the worst cause too-good-to-be-true always comes to an end when you least expect it and remember, poverty sucks. Baaaaaaaaad.

April 14th 1865:

President Abraham Lincoln was shot by thespian coward John Wilkes Booth, and died the next morning. It wasn't until 1909, celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth, that Honest Abe was immortalized on the penny, when his portrait replaced the Indian Head cent. (Did we leave them anything? Besides Casinos?)

So yes, this day in history relates to financial matters because Lincolns death landed him a primo penny portrait gig. Straight off the Indians back. Talk about big time. The penny is the most commonly printed form of currency in the United States. In fact, the U.S. Mint estimates that there are currently between $140 to $200 billion pennies in circulation. The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 required completed reversal designs by 2009 – four different coins have been minted depicting various scenes in Honest Abe's life.

However, with increasing inflation, the penny has become virtually worthless overtime, and there's great debate among genetically altered individuals as to whether they should stay or should they go...

The formerly useful “leave-a-penny, take-a-penny” trays located in gas stations and mini-marts have become fuller and fuller as fewer and fewer people chose to use the irrelevant practically valueless form of exchange.
History and economic expert at Wake Forest University, Robert Whaples argued that, “I's time to eliminate the penny,” and went on to say that the United States loses around $900 million a year just from producing and handling pennies. Certain groups argue that this would put the poverty stricken at an unfair advantage because they are believed to use cash more often.

Whaples also mention the various consumer costs associated with penny usage. First, using pennies in cash transactions wastes a lot of time which “adds up to about $300 million per year for the U.S. Economy.” Ultimately Whaples argues that its the average American's sentimental attachment to the United States' first authorized currency, despite overwhelming evidence that the benefits of keeping pennies in circulation are far outweighed by the costs. Emotions are great, except when they cost crippled economies millions of dollars unnecessarily.

No disrepect meant to the Abrahomey on the anniversary of his shooting, but just like Lincoln, the penny's about to be dead.

If you're incredibly bored and want to know 83 things you can do with a penny, then click here: http://www.savingadvice.com/blog/2007/06/23/101568_83-things-you-can-do-with-a-penny.html