billions!

[allhatnocattle.livejournal.com]

The modern world talks extraordinarily huge numbers like billions. Lets figure this out...

1 hour = 3600 seconds
1 day = 86400 seconds
1 year = 31,536,000 seconds
32 x 31,536,000 = 1,009,152,000.
So about a billion seconds ago it was 1978!

So when we talk about the trillion dollar Greek bailout, or the American debt it's incredible.
It would take 32,000 years to spend a dollar a second, assuming you earned $3600/hr, even while sleeping.

Comments

[a-new-machine.livejournal.com]

It would take 32,000 years to spend a dollar a second

...what?

[rasilio.livejournal.com]

What he means to say is if you spent $1 per second it would take you roughly 32,000 years to get to 1 trillion dollars spent.

To reach this years projected US Federal Deficit at $1 per second it would take you over 60,000 years and back to before the evolution of Homo Sapiens.

In otherwords the US *this year alone* has borrowed more dollars than the human species has existed in seconds

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

http://www.babylontoday.com/national_debt_clock.htm

[eracerhead.livejournal.com]

It is interesting that at the end of the Clinton administration, once he balanced the budget the debt clock in NY was retired. Once Bush got into power it was put back in service.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

That shows more about the authors of the clock rather than about the nature of the national debt (which I'm sure hasn't stopped increasing even under Clinton).

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Apples and oranges are sweet. :-)

[rasilio.livejournal.com]

except in this case the comparison is not to show similarity in properties but similarities in scale in which case comparing apples to oranges is appropriate since they are roughly the same size.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

You win.

[allhatnocattle.livejournal.com]

That was my original point... at least the one in my head before I wrote it down and posted it. I was just astonished how big these numbers are and I was trying to convey that.

[kko.livejournal.com]

numbers are big

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

to infinity plus one.

[allhatnocattle.livejournal.com]

Huge

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

[gifa.livejournal.com]

This is one of the more memorable videos they ever showed us in school. For some reason, this one has always stuck with me. As an adult, I no longer need the explanation, so this version is my favorite now; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvTe1-a6Pdo

Marvellous!

[ed-rex.livejournal.com]

A very useful visual ed — thanks for posting it.

[allhatnocattle.livejournal.com]

Wow

[kko.livejournal.com]

4 years at harvard can cost you around $300,000

if you spent a dollar a day it would take you over 800 years to pay for the total billed costs

therefor graduating from harvard is impossible

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Well played! :-)

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

What about a dollar a second though?

[mrsilence.livejournal.com]

Perhaps you should edit it to say something like: Spending at a rate of a dollar a second, you would have to earn $3600/hr and it would take 32,000 years to spend a trillion dollars.

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

A dollar bill is about .11 cm thick. That means a stack of $1,000,000,000,000 will be 683,508 miles high.

That is enough to go from the Earth to the Moon almost 3 times.

The US debt is now about $12,000,000,000,000. Stacked on top of each other that pile would reach 8,202,099 miles. Imagine a 2 foot by 2 foot column of dollar bills reaching to the Moon.

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

We have more money than we have money it seems.

[mikeyxw.livejournal.com]

So to reduce the size of our debt we can simply use 20's?

[mijopo.livejournal.com]

But if you spent $1 billion / second you could blow it in about 15 minutes.

[dukexmachismo.livejournal.com]

After a few hours, we're talking serious money!

[hey-its-michael.livejournal.com]

If you think about how many atoms are in a single dollar bill, suddenly one trillion dollar bills doesn't seem like that much. lol

[hey-its-michael.livejournal.com]

Insert other irrelevant comparisons to the amount of money...

[torpidai.livejournal.com]

Insert other irrelevant comparisons to the amount of money...


I was just waiting the Great Brittish comparison units, Double Decker bus's, Football pitches, round the world trips, or distance to the sun/moon.

[torpidai.livejournal.com]

So when we talk about the trillion dollar Greek bailout, or the American debt it's incredible.
It would take 32,000 years to spend a dollar a second, assuming you earned $3600/hr, even while sleeping.

Ah, but you've posted this as if you're solving the Greek financial problems as one single person/entity, if you now spread that amongst those who are payings total populations, the numbers are tiny, still irksome, but tiny.

Me, I say, Just like the banks, shoulda just called in the recievers, sold their assets at auction, paid their debts pro-rata, and moved on, but that just aint the capitalist way when we're talking real money now is it, That just happens to the poor and low turnover capitalists.

[rasilio.livejournal.com]

You seem to have a very skewed definition of tiny.

The Greek Debt works out to somewhere in the vicinity of $34,000 per person. Not taxpayer, not worker, person which includes, children, the elderly, those in prison, etc.

When you look at it on a per worker basis you're looking at more than $65,000 each. I can't find any quick references to what the median salary in Greece is in USD but it appears to be in the $33,000 - $35,000 range.

While a $65,000 debt is not insurmountable on an income in that range given that it is a sunk cost, that is if the government were to immediately reduce spending to match it's tax receipts it would need to maintain the tax rate higher than the nominal amount needed to pay for services to service it's existing debt. As a sunk cost offers no benefit to the one who has to pay for it and as such will be a considerable drain on their net earnings and economic potential.

[torpidai.livejournal.com]

You seem to have a very skewed definition of tiny.

No, you seem lacking in basic English.

if you now spread that amongst those who are payings total populations It sure aint "Just the Greeks" paying now is it, and as the reply was with regards to Bailout...

[a-new-machine.livejournal.com]

Arguably the EU's. Most of Greece's ability to borrow is based on the fact that their currency was tied in with more responsible nations' balance of payments sheets. The existence of the Euro was one of the necessary factors that created the entire Portugal/Italy/Ireland/Greece/Spain issue.

Or arguably Greece alone for its ridiculous retirement and pension laws, avoidance of tax payment, etc. The blame here can be laid at almost anyone's feet.

Greece's troubles were inevitable before the crisis. The crisis was just the catalyst for the *when,* not the if.

[eracerhead.livejournal.com]

I can assure you that for all you have read, the attitude here in the US is much worse.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Okay, it's been firmly established that your post is nonsensical. Yay for tags.

I'm sure this makes you jizz in your pants.

[allhatnocattle.livejournal.com]

Not Poland

[allhatnocattle.livejournal.com]

Not sure the lack of regulation is to blame so much as the willfulness to exploit the systems lack of complete control. I mean when the convict breaks out of prison, do you blame the prison for not having 25ft walls when we always assumed the 20ft walls were high enough?

[xforge.livejournal.com]

Here, let me introduce you to my ex.

[allhatnocattle.livejournal.com]

99% of the wealth controlled by 1% of the population...

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

uhm, it's pretty damn close.

Top 1% easily earn more than bottom 50% and top 5% prolly have 80-90% of the total wealth

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

What the hell happened.
I thought Canadians were a thoughtful people [that's right, your representin' your whole country, so step it up].

This oddball drivel-licious post is more like something I would do than you.