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What does 1 trillion dollars look like

sportsmedjosh

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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 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.

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.
 

danthebugman

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Wow, when you put it like that it's really astonishing. All about perspective. Perhaps we should stick a copy of that picture to the bathroom mirror of our constituents in DC...as a reminder.

Dan
 
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I've got a buddy that works for a company that sells cash count equipment, for service on the machines he frequently goes into warehouse-type vaults where they're moving MILLIONS around using a forklift with the money on pallets...crazy stuff. Of course, alot of firearms on display/on the hip.
 

r3db4r0n

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It's funny, as I kid I often told my self I'd be successful and wondered about the splendors of my future, eventually I got to thinking what a million dollars would look like, then a billion and so on and so forth. While I'm still aspiring to my dreams, reading this not only answered this these childhood questions but put a smile on my face to boot!
 

SkinsFanLarry

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Josh, thanks for the fiscal eduction, I for one enjoyed it. I never realized how much a trillion dollars was.
 
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and to think... i have trouble making boxes with sketch-up and you're making a trillion dollars on pallets!.

it's a great program...
 
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