Posted on 05/07/2011 5:01:57 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
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, so I thought I'd take Google Sketchup out for a test drive and try to get a sense of what exactly a trillion dollars looks like.
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?
It's pretty surprising.
Go ahead...
Scroll down...
Ladies and gentlemen... I give you $1 trillion dollars...
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.
A can of ravioli was 50c now its $1. It has been for while.
big deal right? $1
That’s 100% increase.
It’s like that with everything except my pay check.
I haven't bought a can of ravioli in a long time, so I'll ask you to check something the next time you buy it... Has the contents shrunk in weight?
Canned tuna fish used to come in 6oz cans. Now it comes in 5oz cans. Half gallon cartons of orange juice used to be a half gallon - 64oz. Now most are about 56oz. Breakfast cereal used to come in 16oz or larger boxes. Now most are 12.5oz or 13.5oz. This is what I call "hidden inflation," keeping the prices the same, but reducing what they sell you. Of course, these days, the price is rising as well.
Mark
My tagline (sort-of) tells the story.
I dont buy the ravioli but a lot of folks do. College kids, folks on a budget.
Tuna was crazy for a while, I eat that all the time.
I think it was $1.27 a tin at one time about a year ago
They hide lots of stuff in the sizing but they cant hide the prices.
I swear to God I saw a pint of cherry tomatoes the other week for $6
I’ve wondered about this...how tall/long is a stack of a trillion $1 bills?
If a packet of dollar bills is about one half inch, then $1000 would be about five inches tall.
Multiplying 1000 by one billion equals a trillion...so 5 billion inches, or 78,914 miles (three times around earth’s equator plus 4,200 miles).
http://www.peters1.dk/webtools/conversion.php?sprog=en
I have been griping and griping about what I call the “Chef Boyardee index” for the past 2 years. People roll their eyes.
A can of ravioli was 50c now its $1. It has been for while.
big deal right? $1
That’s 100% increase.
I’ve been tracking sugar. As bad if not worse. And gas...
Never mind.
Or does it? Will they use the income stream from the bonds purchased to purchase new bonds?
Do I hear a quadrillion....someone give me a quadrillion!
$100 IIRC. 5 ounces of gold -- $7,500 today.
Or use a silver dime.
I feel the same way.
Homer: "Marge, we're millionaires!"
Perhaps someone could convert the graphic into the standard fast food meal (ie quarter pounder combo upsold to large size) and show the same set of increments; or a $100 load in a grocery cart, (a decent grade box of cereal is approaching $5 a box, gallon of milk ~$4) or how about a tank of gas for a vehicle with an 18 or 20 gallon tank (between $75 & $100 around SoCal).
Maybe the masses would be able to relate to that sort of image better......
Or into some other practical applications, such as . . .
Two graphics based on tanker trucks. One captioned: "This is how much gas $1 trillion would buy 2 years ago," sitting next to one captioned, "This is how much gas $1 trillion would buy today."
. . . or . . .
A graphic based on suitcases, captioned, "This is how many vacations $1 trillion would buy for the 0 family."
. . . or . . .
A partial graphic of a New Black Panther with a night stick, with the caption, "$1 trillion would be this portion of the amount Soros and Soros-backed organizations have contributed to buying the presidency.
Actually, using my 1981 HP 12C, I got screwed up on scientific notation, made a large error, and it is 11 days and change.
In 1972 a new car costs $1,700.00 and gas was $0.299 a gallon. Today, well you know the answer. And as far as market returns go when this fiat money hits the fan all hell is gonna break loose.
book mark to read later
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