Million...Billion...Trillion

You have probably seen reports on the news, the internet or perhaps, even in the newspaper.  The US debt is now over $16 Trillion.  That’s T-R-I-L-L-I-O-N….emphasis on TR.  It is a result of the US Budget deficit we have been incurring since 2001.

How large is one trillion, much less sixteen?  It is an amount most of us can’t quite wrap our minds around. So, let’s use an everyday example to visualize how big the number one trillion actually is.

How long do you think a million seconds is? What does your gut tell you…a few hours...a day?

The answer is 12 days.

So, how long do you think a billion seconds is?

It’s about 32 years…more than you guessed, I’ll bet.

And now, how long do you think a trillion seconds is?

Can you believe that it is approximately 31,688 years?  Yes, you read correctly, Y-E-A-R-S.

Shocking, isn't it?

Another way to look at it would be to use the visual of $100 bills in ever increasing amounts.

Look at this image. 

Image courtesy of photobucket

In the last image, one trillion dollars, notice the man is the very tiny figure in the lower left corner and the pallets of money have been stacked two high.

So, now try to imagine that it takes 16 of these images to equal our current deficit.

Scary isn't it?

"A billion trillion here, a billion trillion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money.” - Everett Dirksen

Unfortunately, it is the taxpayers who will be asked to pay for this deficit over time.