Visual Perspective of One Trillion Dollars

[philw]

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, so I thought I'd take Google Sketchup <http://sketchup.google.com/> 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...
















(And notice those pallets are double stacked.)So the next time you hear someone toss around the phrase "trillion dollars"... that's what they're talking about.

[Hottrockin]

~runs in and grabs a double pallet and runs off~

MINE!!

 

[RTFM]

~runs in and grabs a double pallet and runs off~

MINE!!

 

Which like Germany of old, you'll need to just buy a loaf of bread.

[ericire12]

More money then you can even understand

[Rastus]

Which like Germany of old, you'll need to just buy a loaf of bread.

Bullseye.

The backdoor tax on the middle class...work hard, save your money and buy less.

Buy less with the same dollar....why???...because of the government's printing press.  It's a backdoor tax and the politicians know it (maybe not, many seem to be pretty dimwitted puppets as of late).  What...you  say that's not a tax...OK...call it what you will, but your dollar you worked, let's say an hour for and could buy a one liter soft drink last year and have change...oops, now you need a dollar and maybe some change...now multiply that for...say everything you buy.  Not a tax technically but very much designed to provide income to the government (the backside of paying back cheaper dollars)...call it what you will it's stealing.

[Sponsor]

[fightingquaker13]

Bullseye.

The backdoor tax on the middle class...work hard, save your money and buy less.

Buy less with the same dollar....why???...because of the government's printing press.  It's a backdoor tax and the politicians know it (maybe not, many seem to be pretty dimwitted puppets as of late).  What...you  say that's not a tax...OK...call it what you will, but your dollar you worked, let's say an hour for and could buy a one liter soft drink last year and have change...oops, now you need a dollar and maybe some change...now multiply that for...say everything you buy.  Not a tax technically but very much designed to provide income to the government (the backside of paying back cheaper dollars)...call it what you will it's stealing.

Seignurage is the technical term. Its the difference between what it costs the state to coin/print money and its exchange rate. We actually lose money on pennies and make it on dollars. Its also why we don't use precious metals any more. There is a famous economic axiom called Gresham's law which states: "Whenever the exchange value of two currencies is the same, the one with the lesser intrinsic value will prevail". Popular version: bad money drives out good.
fightingquaker13

[PegLeg45]

Which like Germany of old, you'll need to just buy a loaf of bread.

yep.


The German hyperinflation following World War I, though not the worst hyperinflation in the 20th Century (that honor belongs to Hungary 1945-46 and Yugoslavia 1992-94), is certainly the most famous. Stories abound of people carrying money in wheelbarrows. Actually wheelbarrows were rarely, if ever used to carry money. Suitcases were the preferred method of transport.

The inflation was triggered by a huge increase in the nation's money supply, caused in part by the heavy demands of the reparations placed upon Germany following its loss in World War I. Soon an inflationary mentality set in. Merchants would raise prices automatically. People would hoard goods, figuring the price would go up, thus causing shortages. The vast quantities of money were issued not only by the German central bank (The Reichsbank), but also by numerous communities, cities, states and companies, only compounded the inflation.

[fightingquaker13]

yep.


The German hyperinflation following World War I, though not the worst hyperinflation in the 20th Century (that honor belongs to Hungary 1945-46 and Yugoslavia 1992-94), is certainly the most famous. Stories abound of people carrying money in wheelbarrows. Actually wheelbarrows were rarely, if ever used to carry money. Suitcases were the preferred method of transport.

You're forgetting Zimbabwe, proud home of the most billionaires on the planet. An oposition leader was arrested and held on a Z$100 million bail. A friend from Reuters bailed him out. Total cost, US$86. Thats some scary inflation.
fightingquaker13

[PegLeg45]

You're forgetting Zimbabwe, proud home of the most billionaires on the planet. An oposition leader was arrested and held on a Z$100 million bail. A friend from Reuters bailed him out. Total cost, US$86. Thats some scary inflation.
fightingquaker13

Yes, I was trying to find some references to that. I remember seeing somewhere on TV report once, a guy from Zimbabwe with an actual wheelbarrow full of money. It was in fact said that he was going to the local store for a bag of rice and a gallon of fresh filtered water.

[Hottrockin]

~runs in and grabs another double stack~

~heads out through the backdoor~