Just how big do you think a 'trillion' is?

I

imported_Tom

New member
Curious, how many of us can begin to understand just how large a trillion is, some time ago I emailed the Treasury Dept and asked how long it would take them to print one trillion dollars in one dollar bills, to my surprise I got an answer back in a couple of weeks from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, I'll post the answer in a while-its frightening, does anyone care to guess?
 
I think that we all should know what that number looks like. Maybe more people will sit up and take notice of how out of control this government spending is. Dont even get me started on health care and that price tag.
 
Should I'll just take a pinch of money from that stack. Maybe a large pallet load should do it........:D
 
Tom said:
Curious, how many of us can begin to understand just how large a trillion is, some time ago I emailed the Treasury Dept and asked how long it would take them to print one trillion dollars in one dollar bills, to my surprise I got an answer back in a couple of weeks from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, I'll post the answer in a while-its frightening, does anyone care to guess?
Click to expand...

No need to guess, just be willing to do the math. Factor a printing rate of @ 26 million notes printed per day.
 
This is a picture of the Laramie River Generating Station in Wheatland Wyoming. When construction was complete in 1986, the cost was ONE BILLION DOLLARS. (Construction lasted 10 years! I know because I was there!)

A trillion would 1000 Laramie River Stations.

Hard to fathom.

610x.jpg
 
the net worth of 500 bill gates is a Trillion Dollars. The amount of money is what it would cost to fund a national health care system for a few years.

Cheers,
GREG
 
OK Tom, I had to dig out the big calculator.

According to the Bureau of Engraving's Money Facts web site, their presses are capable of printing 8000 sheets per hour. Each sheet is 32 dollars (if printing $1 bills).

Assuming non-stop printing:
8000 x $32 = $256,000 per hour
256,000 x 24 hours = $6,144,000 per day
6,144,000 x 365 days = $2,242,560,000 per year
1,000,000,000,000 divided by 2,242,560,000 = 445.9189497716895 years

Too much time on my hands today!
 
doctordon said:
OK Tom, I had to dig out the big calculator.

According to the Bureau of Engraving's Money Facts web site, their presses are capable of printing 8000 sheets per hour. Each sheet is 32 dollars (if printing $1 bills).

Assuming non-stop printing:
8000 x $32 = $256,000 per hour
256,000 x 24 hours = $6,144,000 per day
6,144,000 x 365 days = $2,242,560,000 per year
1,000,000,000,000 divided by 2,242,560,000 = 445.9189497716895 years

Too much time on my hands today!
Click to expand...

Cool.......

Next test question:


Do the penny math..........?


How long?........:biggrin:


I'm going out to the garage for a cigar and a cold one, take your time.......
 
McLaren F1
993 GT2
Aston Martin Vanquish S
1955 300SL Gulwing
Koenigsegg Trevita CCX-R
Bentley Brooklands


^^ I would start there...




and a Mini Cooper for city driving, not kidding I got a thing for Minis
 
"and a Mini Cooper for city driving, not kidding I got a thing for Minis"

Dave, that made me laugh hard!! It's a good thing I wasn't drinking anything when I read your post.
 
doctordon said:
Dave, that's too easy. Considering the same time assumptions: 1,426,944 years. 445.92 x 3200 pennies.
Click to expand...

I was hoping minting pennies wasn't as easy as printing bills.....


I'll bet the process is a little different time wise.......

maybe 2 million years.........: )
 
mikemurphy234 said:
"and a Mini Cooper for city driving, not kidding I got a thing for Minis"

Dave, that made me laugh hard!! It's a good thing I wasn't drinking anything when I read your post.
Click to expand...

Im not kidding. If I had all those cars I would need a simple people mover to get me around town incognito... I think mini's are fantastic cars and would def rock one as a grocery getting.
:wink:
 
According to the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing using every press, every employee, every shift, every working day it would take 140 years to print one trillion dollars in one dollar bills.

Now, when you hear that they want to spend 12 trillion just think that it would take 1680 years to print that amount in ones.

Of course the govt would not print in ones, but this does put things in perspective...
 
doctordon said:
OK Tom, I had to dig out the big calculator.

According to the Bureau of Engraving's Money Facts web site, their presses are capable of printing 8000 sheets per hour. Each sheet is 32 dollars (if printing $1 bills).

Assuming non-stop printing:
8000 x $32 = $256,000 per hour
256,000 x 24 hours = $6,144,000 per day
6,144,000 x 365 days = $2,242,560,000 per year
1,000,000,000,000 divided by 2,242,560,000 = 445.9189497716895 years

Too much time on my hands today!
Click to expand...

Is the BEP confused? Someone's math is off, as their site states in the very first "money fact" that they averaged printing 26 million notes daily.
 
Mr. Clean,

Here's a copy and paste from the money facts page.: The Bureau prints currency on high-speed, sheet-fed rotary presses, which are capable of printing over 8,000 sheets per hour.

I based my math (incorrectly) on all their presses combinded printing 8000 sheets per hour. That figure is for one press. They have 23 presses in Washington DC. There is also a BEP in Ft Worth TX. I have no idea how many presses are in Ft Worth.

So, it may be feasable that they can print 26 million notes per day. Who knows?

Don
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top