Stimulating calculations

[tim hunt]

As a result of inflation over the centuries trillions seem to have replaced billions in common parlance today and we have become somewhat blasé. It 's not easy off the bat to picture what the recently reported 1.8 trillion USD stimulus package would look like. Given that to three significant figures the thickness of a new one dollar bill is .00430" and its length 6.14" a calculator quickly reveals that a stack of 1.8 trillion new one dollar notes, assuming no compression, would be 122,000 miles high, reaching half way to the moon! Were the 1.8 trillion bills to be laid end to end they would stretch for 175 million miles, to the sun and best part of the way back. I find these considerations somewhat sobering. Just imagine what the US National Debt, over 23 trillion dollars BEFORE the stimulus package, would look like viewed through my lens, end to end the bills would reach mid way between the orbits of Uranus and Neptune!  

Tim

[RobH]

Won't somebody think of the trees !  

It is interesting to think that you couldn't physically print that much money, and there isn't enough gold to back it up ( the US 'only' has around $388 billion worth ) - so the money doesn't really exist except as a number in a computer somewhere.  

Scary.

 

[Tom Fremont]

Gold is about as good as it gets for a store of wealth, historically without peer and universally appreciated. Those with money to spare can use it to hedge against the worst fiscal calamities and know they won't lose absolutely everything, giving some peace of mind if nothing else.

As for the smoke and mirrors of money otherwise, the " loss " in market value of equities in the last few weeks is 3-4X the amount of the referenced " stimulus " package. In that realm, things are relative.

 

Tom