Tuesday, January 26, 2010

What's a Trillion Dollars?... we can print more

We'll start with a $100 dollar bill. Currently the largest U.S. denomination in general circulation. Most everyone has seen them, slighty 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 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 so much about. 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?











Notice those pallets are double stacked.

...and remember those are $100 bills.  So the next time you hear someone toss around the phrase "trillion dollars"... that's what they're talking about.  (Thanks to pagetutor.com for the lesson)

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