Mar 11, 2009: The Bailout

I received these pictures and the accompanying text via email, with nothing to identify the original author. Since it was so well done I am going to copy it here, and the author can make themselves known if they wish. The cellar will only let me do four pics at a time so this will have to be over two posts.

The Bailout

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.


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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.


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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.


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While a measly $1 million looked a little unimpressive, $100 million is a little more respectable. It fits neatly on a standard pallet...


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And $1 BILLION dollars... now we're really getting somewhere...


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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..


Attachment 22375


(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.

and 10 pallets makes a billion - you'd need how many of those to make a trillion then????

holy fuck

don't forget those are stacks of HUNDRED dollar bills too.

So were the three plane loads of pallets that went to Iraq.

Quote:

Originally Posted by classicman don't forget those are stacks of HUNDRED dollar bills too.

well aren't you just the schmarty pants of the group? (insert applicable smilie here)

Often.

lol

Makes me really wonder why so many people have to live homeless, without food, clothes, in poverty, when such large amounts are just thrown around for random and often poorly managed purposes.

For some reason the imagery of the snake eating it's own tail comes to mind. Only maybe the snake is made of gold and bureaucracy, and all the people on the outside can do is watch it go round and round and pick up what little pieces of gold poo it leaves behind....
Yeah I'm really tired, I'll cease my prattle now :P

When all of this bailout, stimulus and recovery money is spent, there will be 9 trillion dollars on the red side of the ledger. We probably haven't got the facilities to print that much worthless paper.

That's the beauty of it, they don't even have to print the stuff. It's just 1s and 0s in the computer.

This is the original, "A Little Perspective on $87 billion:"

http://87billion.com/

Quote:

Originally Posted by spudcon ... We probably haven't got the facilities to print that much worthless paper.

With growing numbers like these, you coulda/shoulda waited until Saturday to publish this post - Saturday being Pi Day (also an irrational number, though it's a far happier thing than all those pallets of cash)
And yes, I celebrate Pi Day.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

Pie Day....



oh,wait....

Sure it's big. But can it get hard?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheldonrs Sure it's big. But can it get hard?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coign I don't know, but I know I am getting f***ed by it.

That's it. I am no longer using paper money. Dubloons or nothing from here on out. (couldn't find a pirate)

Quote:

Originally Posted by birdclaw That's it. I am no longer using paper money. Dubloons or nothing from here on out. (couldn't find a pirate)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brianna Maybe we should go to a monkey-based economy? Not a lot of people have monkeys....

So change for a Rhesus would be Rhesus pieces?

Quote:

Originally Posted by HungLikeJesus So change for a Rhesus would be Rhesus pieces?

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetwater With growing numbers like these, you coulda/shoulda waited until Saturday to publish this post - Saturday being Pi Day (also an irrational number, though it's a far happier thing than all those pallets of cash) And yes, I celebrate Pi Day.

nerds nerds nerdy-nerd-nerd-nerds

Money, schmunny. I want to know more about that Google thingamajig where you did that. Brilliant job, Bruce.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elspode Money, schmunny. I want to know more about that Google thingamajig where you did that. Brilliant job, Bruce.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scriveyn Shouldn't be a problem:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leokins Makes me really wonder why so many people have to live homeless, without food, clothes, in poverty, when such large amounts are just thrown around for random and often poorly managed purposes. For some reason the imagery of the snake eating it's own tail comes to mind. Only maybe the snake is made of gold and bureaucracy, and all the people on the outside can do is watch it go round and round and pick up what little pieces of gold poo it leaves behind.... Yeah I'm really tired, I'll cease my prattle now :P

Quote:

Originally Posted by hipshot "Little pieces of gold poo..."? That's on the verge of poetic...or something...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elspode Money, schmunny. I want to know more about that Google thingamajig where you did that. Brilliant job, Bruce.

It just occured to me that Elspode might have been right. All I did was copy and paste from an email I received. I don't nkow who actually worked all that out, but it might well have been a person named Bruce. Who knows?

And I was wondering when we'd see the stats you just provided, about the money going to or past the moon and such. That is the normal comparison, although that is a bit silly cause virtually none of us really know how far it is to the moon.

Maybe, but I'd guess he just fucked up. Too many lovely women in his life, no time to stop and read the details.

Uh, "normal comparison"? What could be normal about attempting to describe a trillion dollars? I mean it ain't like discussing whether you do the across or down first in the daily crossword puzzle.

By normal comparison I meant that there are various standard comparisons that are widely used:
Smaller than a human hair/fingernail
Bigger than a tennis court/soccer field
Taller than the Statue of Liberty
Enough [water] to fill an Olympic swimming pool (or Sydney Harbour, down under)
Either piled up or laid end to end, would go around the world X number of times (or would go to the moon and back).

The sort of well known things that journalists compare things to.

And don't forget Rhode Island! We'd want to know how deep the dollars would get if they were used to fill Rhode Island.

Ease up on Little Rhody there, sweet!

I'd like to know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.

Zen, please illustrate.

4,000, apparently, but they must be specially imported from Lancashire.


Here ya go:

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That really puts it into perspective.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce Maybe, but I'd guess he just fucked up. Too many lovely women in his life, no time to stop and read the details.

Well yes and no.
Yes... you never claim perfection, quite the contrary, your self deprecation is legendary.

No... you may "fuck up a lot", but not in the Cellar. I find your posts to be clear, informative, always eloquent and frequently poignant.




I also find your competition to charm the ladies, insurmountable.

Bruce, you have no problems that a trillion dollars wouldn't fix

That certainly would be helpful in hiding them, anyway.

I could fill the tip jar, which is a little low.

How the hell am I going to wheel barrow a trillion dollars to the store to buy bread two years from now?

Geez. That will require either 1 month of continuous work or sharing my loaf of bread with the wheel barrow team.

Completely unworkable either way.

You'll need a little more than a wheelbarrow

Ten semi trucks if I remember a graphic posted here a while ago...

Regarding hyperinflation, a friend and I came up with the idea of buying some Zimbabwe $10,000,000,000,000 notes for, say, 50 cents each, and selling them as novelty souveniers for, say, $2 (real money) each. Part procedes to charity.

Would you buy one? Just for the novelty value?

Actually I'd buy 10. Seriously. PM me.

Well, I could PM you, but since I have no Zimbabwean currency nor much idea where to start getting some ... what do you want me to say in my PM?



(cue dirty joke from Classic)

lol - dunno - you're the one with the idea, not me. I was simply putting in my order.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZenGum Well, I could PM you, but since I have no Zimbabwean currency nor much idea where to start getting some ... what do you want me to say in my PM? (cue dirty joke from Classic)

Bad dog, get off my leg.