I love Google’s news archive search. I just discovered a New York Times article from February 13, 1912 announcing that Emperor Pu-Yi had abdicated from the throne. The interesting part, at least for me, was the terms of the abdication. Specifically, the Republicans pledged that “[t]he Emperor shall receive an annual grant of 4,000,000 taels until the currency is reformed, after which he shall receive $4,000,000 Mexican.” Of course, the Republicans referred to in the article are those supporters of the Republic of China, and not the McCain/Palin crowd. Now, almost a 100 years later, pegging a severance payment to the Mexican dollar seems a bit quaint. Just shows how powers ebb and flow over time. A century from now, I wonder of our current US dollar denominated contracts will appear equally quaint to those who are yet to be born.