What a trillion dollars looks like

"You spend a billion here and a billion there.
Sooner or later it adds up to real money."
US Senator Everett Dirksen

All this talk about "stimulus packages" and "bailouts". A billion dollars here. A hundred billion dollars there. Eight hundred billion dollars here. One TRILLION dollars there. How can we relate to it all? Well, let's start with a $100 dollar bill, currently the largest U.S. denomination in general circulation. Most everyone has seen them, slightly fewer have owned them. Guaranteed to make friends wherever they go.

$100 ... One HUNDRED dollars

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 a week or two of shamefully decadent fun.

$10,000 ... TEN THOUSAND dollars

Believe it or not, this next little pile is $1 MILLION dollars (100 packets of $10,000). You could stuff it all into a grocery bag and walk around with it. Not recommended.

$1,000,000 ... One MILLION dollars

And while a measly $1 million looks a little unimpressive, $100 million dollars is a little more respectable. It all fits neatly on a standard pallet.

$100,000,000 ... One HUNDRED MILLION dollars

And $1 BILLION dollars? Now we're really getting somewhere.

$1,000,000,000 ... One BILLION dollars

Next we'll look at one TRILLION dollars. This is the number we've been hearing so much about, lately. What is a trillion dollars? It's a million million dollars. It's a thousand billion dollars. It's a one followed by 12 zeros. Are you ready? It's pretty shocking. Go ahead. Scroll down. Ladies and gentlemen, here's $1 trillion dollars.

$1,000,000,000,000 ... One TRILLION dollars

Now, notice the scaled size of the man at the lower left. Also notice the pallets are double stacked. And remember these are $100 bills. So the next time you hear someone toss around the phrase "trillion dollars" ... this is what they're talking about.

And here's a couple of factoids for you.

It would take a person 31,688 years without stopping to count up to 1 trillion.

As of June 2010, the U.S. debt is 13 TRILLION dollars, which equals $42,000 for every American man, woman and child.

Now you know!

See where lots of our cash goes, next.