Pay Your Debt

Berlin, Germany has close to €63 billion in debt, but that amount may grow if Mittenwalde, Germany has its way. An archivist recently found a certificate of debt that indicated Mittenwalde had loaned Berlin 400 guilders on May 28, 1562 at an interest rate of 6 percent per year. It was reported that the debt would now be at 11,200 guilders, or €112 million ($136.79 million). In fuzzy reporting, how this amount was calculated is not given. A quick time value of money calculation indicates that the actual amount owed by Berlin is about 97.66 trillion guilders, or about €976.6 quadrillion!