Perspective...good, bad and just interesting....

The Bank of England has just cut its interest rate to 1.5%...below 2% for the first time in its 315 year history. 

That's right, not the first time since 1964...the first time since 1694. 

For perspective, on March 1, 1694, the HMS Sussex treasure fleet (of 13 ships) is shipwrecked off Gibraltar with the loss of approximately 1,200 lives. On November 21, 1694, Voltaire, French philosopher. In December of 1694, Thomas Tenison becomes Archbishop of Canterbury. On December 28th, Queen Mary II of England dies. Wikipedia is very cool.

There is some dispute as to the oldest bank in the US, but it appears to me to be the Bank of New York (now with "Mellon" at the end), which was formed in 1784. 

Here's to the hope that all efforts to get the global economy heading is a better direction are successful. We need more people feeling happy enough to buy good books...