What $1 Trillion Looks Like

All this talk about “stimulus packages” and “bailouts” … But what does a trillion dollars look like? The graphical illustration below comes courtesy of PageTutor.

We’ll start with a $100 dollar bill. Currently the largest US denomination in general circulation. Most people have seen it, slighty fewer have owned it. Guaranteed to make friends wherever it goes.

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.

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.

Comments

[Dave Wrixon:]

Well that has put my mind at rest.

I had forgotten that the US also devalued the numerical value of a Trillion, which actually used to be a million times more than that. I guess that would have had all those pallets stacked up to the orbit of the International Space Station.

Apr 05 06:29 AM

[morph366:]

I almost missed the guy standing on the left hand bottom corner!

Apr 05 06:32 AM

[ECONOMICS 101:]

It's amazing how de-personal it seems. It reminds me of a stack of chips in a casino.

Apr 05 08:23 AM

[Asbytec:]

Somewhere in that huge stack of money are the 2 1/2 of those flat pieces of paper I'll get to stimulate the economy. Trouble is, I put much more into that stack that's going to someone else.

Apr 05 09:37 AM

[robert99:]

Exponential functions are fun!

Apr 05 12:18 PM

[Jose Urioste:]

Well, we'll need big bags, as the german did before the war

Apr 05 12:45 PM

[Gtarras:]

Do you know that average human life is roughly only 2 billion seconds?

Whats a trillion seconds back in time? Thats 350 centuries ago. Christ was born only 20 centuries back, that puts things into perspective. :))

Apr 05 03:47 PM

[pacman1947:]

M. du Plessis,
There are roughly six trillion miles in a light year, or ten trillion kilometers. If you had a dollar for each mile in a light year, you could achieve the G20 goal that they set out to pile onto the malaise at hand. But, you'd need more than two dollars per mile to match the American response to date. We'll let you know if it does any good. Nobody's seen any effect yet.

And just think, it's over four light years to the nearest star, Alpha Centauri. If we get started right away, our children can get there with their money that we are spending now.

It's a loooong way to that star.

Apr 05 07:19 PM

[johnh:]

now how long before we get a trillion to fit nicely in your pocket? a la zimbabwe

Apr 08 11:49 PM