Trillion+Dollars

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 the are things we use every day, so let's try to get a sense of what exactly a trillion dollars looks like. We'll start with a $100 dollar bill. Currently the largest New Zealand and U.S. denomination in general circulation. Most everyone has seen them, slightly fewer have owned them. Guaranteed to make friends wherever they go. New Zealand - what can you buy with a $100 note?

A packet of one hundred $100 notes is less than 2 centimetres thick and contains $10,000. Fits in your pocket easily. What could you do with $10000?

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. have a look at Gladstone's Mighty millions.



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.

Magic measurers... 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. Theymight even think they know what they are talking about but ......

A special thanks to Mrs Warren of Martinborough who discovered this information.