if you let interest compound for 100s of years, you get the wheat and chessboard problem. we also learn that ben franklin was an early cryogenist. his preservation medium: madeira wine.

Hartwick College didn’t really mean to annihilate the US economy. The college inherited a 1000-year trust that would not mature until the year 2936: a gift whose accumulated compound interest “could ultimately shatter the nation’s financial structure.” After decades in the courts, Holdeen’s economic Armageddon ended not with a bang, but with a whimper—and a dividend check.

Hartwick College got its 1000-year trust, still bearing its maturation date of 2936; the principal now stands at an impressive $9m. Rather than accumulating and compounding, though, the trust pays out $450k a year to the college.