What Does one TRILLION dollars look
like?
All this talk about "stimulus packages" and "bailouts"...
A billion dollars...
A hundred billion dollars...
Eight hundred billion
dollars...
One TRILLION dollars...
What does that look like? I mean, these various numbers are tossed around
like so many doggie treats.
Stay with me ... to get a sense of what a trillion dollars looks like.
Take it slowly....
We'll start with a $100 dollar bill. Currently the largest U.S. denomination
in general circulation. Most everyone has seen them; slightly fewer have
owned them. Guaranteed to make friends wherever they go.
A packet of one hundred $100 bills is less than 1/2" thick and contains
$10,000. Fits in your pocket easily and is more than enough for a week or
two of shamefully decadent fun.
Believe it or not, this next little pile is $1 million dollars (100 packets
of $10,000). You could stuff that into a grocery bag and walk around with
it.
While a measly $1 million looked a little unimpressive, $100 million is a
little more respectable. It fits neatly on a standard pallet...
And $1 BILLION dollars... now we're really getting somewhere...
Next we'll look at ONE TRILLION dollars. This is that number we've been
hearing about so much. What is a trillion dollars? Well, it's a million
million. It's a thousand billion. It's a one followed by 12 zeros.
You ready for this?
It's pretty surprising.
Go ahead...
Scroll down...
Ladies and gentlemen...
I give you $1 trillion dollars...
(And notice those pallets are double
stacked and how small the man looks.)
So the next time you hear someone toss around the phrase "trillion
dollars"... that's what
they're talking about.