How Much is One Trillion?

In Thursday's New York Times, Bob Herbert, in describing the Iraq War attempts to explain how much one trillion is (the amount in dollars that the Iraq War will probably end up costing):

It's not easy to explain just how much money $1 trillion really is. Imagine a stack of bills worth $1 million that is roughly six inches high. (Think big denominations — a mix of $100 bills and $1,000 bills, mostly $1,000's.) If the six-inch stack were enlarged to the point where it was worth $1 billion, it would be as tall as the Washington Monument, about 500 feet. If it were worth $1 trillion, the stack would be 95 miles high.

I have a better way. Let's start with one billion. If you spent $1,000 per day, every day without fail, you would spend $365,000 in a normal year. You would spend $36,525,000 in a century (assuming 25 leap years per century). So, if you started spending $1,000 per day starting January 1,  0000, you would be spending $1,000 per day through the end of the Roman Empire, the collapse of the Mayan civilization, the Middle Ages, the Crusades, the Black Plague, the Renaissance, the European conquest of the New World, the Industrial Revolution, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, World Wars I and II, the Cold War, the end of the 20th Century and would finally reach one billion dollars a little more than one-third of the way through the 28th century.

Now do that 999 more times and that gets you to one trillion dollars.

Comments

[Russell Voice]

Since $1000 bills are no longer in use you should stick to $100`s,the largest denomination in circulation & US Treasury facts reveal there are 233 bills per 1 inch banded stack and 490 bills weigh one pound
1lb=$49,000
10lbs=$490,000
One Million Dollars in $100 Bills would weigh 20.48 pounds

[Randy Paul]

I wasn't alking about bills, I was just mentioning the amount of $1,000/day.

[Eric Roll]

These analogies are very helpful. One trillion is a number beyond human comprehension. We can write it down, we can say the words, but we really can't wrap our heads around it. Thanks for giving us a perspective beyond a number with a bunch of zeros.