All this talk about the stimulus package ...

One TRILLION dollars... What does that look like? I mean, these various numbers are tossed around like so many doggie treats, so I thought I'd take "Google Sketchup" out for a test drive and try to get a sense of what exactly a trillion dollars looks like! We'll start with a $100 dollar bill. Currently the largest U.S. denomination in general circulation. Almost everyone has seen them, slighty fewer have owned more than a couple at one time.
















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 week or two of shamefully decadent fun or maybe one night in Vegas.















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


















While a measly $1 million looked a little unimpressive, $100 million is a little more respectable. It fits neatly on a standard pallet...
















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

















Next we'll look at ONE TRILLION dollars. This is that number we've been hearing so much about. What is a trillion dollars? Well, it's a million million. It's a thousand billion. It's a one followed by 12 zeros.

Ladies and gentlemen... I give you a 6 foot man  standing next to  $1 trillion dollars...

(And notice those pallets are double stacked.)
So the next time you hear anyone toss around the phrase "trillion dollars"...this is what they're talking about.