behind the bailout numbers
By Mike Ashworth | November 10, 2009
We hear large numbers being bandied about on the telly and in the papers all the time about the size of the global financial crisis and subsequent bailout.
However, to many people, the numbers are difficult to comprehend, seem so big as to be almost unreal. Perhaps this example might help explain.
Imagine, if you will, one Million Pounds in a stack (made up of £100 bills tightly packed), how high do you think that stack of notes would be? The height of an average man? Maybe the height of a house?
That stack of bills would be four and a half inches high. That’s right. About the length of a biro.
Now, imagine how high a Trillion Pound stack would be? Height of a house? Maybe the height of a very tall building? Nope……
That Trillion Dollar stack would be 71 miles high.
To put this in context, an altitude of 75 miles is where atmospheric effects become noticeable during re-entry of spacecraft.
If the time perspective is one that might be more interesting.
One Million seconds is just over eleven and a half days whilst a Trillion seconds is 32,000 years.
Scary……
Topics: Politics |
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