He had the math right for that. 8% per year = 0.6667% per month. 1.006667 ^ (4560 months) is what he calculated.
8% per annum compounded monthly is equivalent to about 8.2999507% compounded annually.
1.006666667^4560 ~ 1.082999507^380
Of course, if the stupid Indians had rented it for $1.00/month, and placed the rents in an account bearing 8% annual interest compounded monthly, they would have more about 150 times more than the measely 1000 trillion they would haven’t gotten on the original $72 bucks placed in a savings account. Like all the money in the world. Even Obama might have trouble spending that much.
BTW, the original deed only covered the portion of Manhattan south of Wall Street, a tiny fraction of the whole island, so the Dutch really got ripped off. The Wall was there to keep the former tenants UIT.
What’s the annual rate of return on 8% compounded instaneously.
r* = limit[p => 0] (1+r*p)^(1/p) - 1
r* is the effective annual rate of return, p is the period, in years. For p = 1/12, r = 0.08, r* = 0.0829995...= 8.29995%. What happens to r* as p approaches zero?
r*(p=> 0) = (e^r)-1
If this does not prove that there is a God and Leonard Euler is his prophet, nothing does.