This blog is about infinity.
You can see that the bulk of it is concerned with explaining why all infinite series total the same number. -1/12.
I want to comment on how infinity played a minor role in my marketing contribution to America and the financial world.
When I was a banker in the 1960’s, bank passbook savings interest rate was set at 4% and by custom it was paid quarterly. Savings-and-Loan associations were allowed 5.25% interest paid quarterly.
I introduced, to banking, a consumer certificate of deposit. That allowed banks, which formerly had by custom only sold CDs in amounts greater than $10,000, to sell them to ordinary customers.
In the 10 day grace period at the beginning of a January quarter in 1968, I had my bank run ads for our 5% savings CD available in any amount. We got $50 million in new savings and every bank in America copied us, immediately.
My next move, based on my knowledge of calculus, was to announce that my bank would calculate and pay interest every second. It was actually a first derivative. That allowed us to compete directly with the savings-and-loan 5.25%. The S&Ls then went to continuous interest computation as did everyone in finance.
I blame myself for the 1980s failure of savings-and-loans because they no longer were getting cheap savings funds from retail customers.
I am not really to blame because in the early 70’s the money market fund was invented and it probably did much more damage to savings-and-loans than my banking innovations.
If you know physics or technology you are not surprised that there is a known total of infinite series. If you really know math, which I don't, you will recognize this solution as a subset of Ramanujan's multiple infinities.