Billion Dollars Background (Computer generated high resolution image)
All this talk about “stimulus packages” and “bailouts”… A billion dollars… A hundred billion dollars… Eight hundred billion dollars… One TRILLION dollars… 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 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.
Ladies and gentlemen… I give you $1 trillion dollars…
(And notice those pallets are double stacked.) The area this occupies is just shy of 5 acres, with one hundred bills stacked 6 feet in height. So the next time you hear someone toss around the phrase “trillion dollars”… that’s what they’re talking about.