A trillion here, a trillion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money

I posted that little blurb about Obama getting oh-so-tough with the budget at lunch, and I’ve been thinking about the numbers off and on all afternoon.  A trillion of something is very difficult to imagine.

I spent a bit of time this evening on everyone’s favorite wiki, looking for fun and alarming ways to convey the amount of money we’re talking about.  So how much money—really—is $3,500,000,000,000?  Dig:

• There’s Gold in Them Thar Hills, and I’ll Take It All:  $3,500,000,000,000, as of this writing, is right at the amount of money that would be required to buy all of the gold ever mined.
• Those Lucky Nutmeggers:  Evenly distributing $3,500,000,000,000 to every man, woman, and child in Connecticut would make all of them millionaires.
• The Stadium Promotion to End All Others—Millionaire Day!:  Suppose you gave $1,000,000 to every person through the gate at the Superdome.  Assuming sellouts, it would take 48 sporting events to give away $3,500,000,000,000.
• Well, It Is America’s Sports Car:  How about a new Corvette for every licensed driver in South Carolina, Alabama, Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maryland, Missouri, Tennessee, Indiana, Massachusetts, Arizona, Washington, Virginia, and New Jersey?  $3,500,000,000,000 would cover it.
• Just Throw It in the Ocean:  $3,500,000,000,000 is enough to distribute $25,000 over each and every square mile of ocean on the earth’s surface.  Ever look out over the ocean?
• All the People:  $3,500,000,000,000 is about $11,400 for every man, woman, and child in the United States.  It’s about $515 for every man, woman, and child in the world.

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