Nevada observes its 148th birthday starting today with a variety of events in the capital culminating in the Nevada Day parade on Saturday.With just two years left until the Silver State's sesquicentennial, Nevada Day is always a good time to reflect on the history of the state punctuated by its wild economic fluctuation.The phrase "boom and bust" is familiar to anyone who has grown up in the state. Over the last few years we've become well acquainted with the bust part as the recession has taken a big bite out of the boom that was the housing industry.But looking back, …