Select date
Ponzi Gave Name to Tried and True Scam
from WealthCycles:
WealthCycles readers may know we have frequently referred to fractional reserve banking, and the global monetary system, for that matter as Ponzi or pyramid schemes. The term “Ponzi scheme” is frequently in the headlines, in a local news item in which some local sharpie has bilked senior citizens or his drinking buddies out of a few grand, or in nationally notorious scandals such as Bernie Madoff’s fraudulent operation and subsequent conviction. But what or who is a “Ponzi,” and how did these nefarious schemes get such a funny name?
The Ponzi scheme took its name from Charles Ponzi, born Carlo Ponzi, in Parma, Italy, in 1882, according to The Biography Channel website. Ponzi is believed to have attended the University of Rome La Sapienza before immigrating to the United States, arriving in Boston harbor aboard the S.S. Vancouver in November 1903.
