What's a Billion ?

Fl_Gulfer · 02-11-2010, 08:01 AM

How many zeros in a billion?
This is too true to be funny.

The next time you hear a politician use the
word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about
whether you want the 'politicians' spending
YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend,
but one advertising agency did a good job of
putting that figure into some perspective in
one of it's releases.

A.
A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B.
A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were
living in the Stone Age..

D.
A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E.
A billion dollars ago was only
8 hours and 20 minutes,
at the rate our government
is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain...
let's take a look at New Orleans ..
It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.

Louisiana Senator,
Mary Landrieu (D)
is presently asking Congress for
250 BILLION DOLLARS
to rebuild New Orleans . Interesting number...
what does it mean?
A..
Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans
(every man, woman, and child)
you each get $516,528.

B.
Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in
New Orleans , your home gets$1,329,787.

C.
Or... if you are a family of four...
your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington , D. C

HELLO!
Are all your calculators broken??

Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax (Fed)
Federal Unemployment Tax (FU TA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration T ax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
(And to think, we left British Rule to avoid so many taxes)

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago...
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.

We had absolutely no national debt...
We had the largest middle class in the world...
and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened?
Can you spell 'politicians!'

And I still have to
press '1'
for English.

Rupert · 02-11-2010, 08:22 AM

Yes, a billion is a lot of cash...and I will miss it as a short lived commonly used measure. While you were doing all this calculation, our govt. moved on to bigger and better things....like the now commonly used "Trillions" figure. What's next? I think maybe it is back to your "C'....a billion years ago. Living in caves is not so bad until they figure in the "bat tax"...which I am sure they will.
Regards!

rhodopsin · 02-11-2010, 08:26 AM

RE: Bailouts

Try dividing the dollar amount by 300 million, the number of US citizens. Now wouldn't a better plan for "recovery" have been to distribute the per-person amount to each citizen?

little laker · 02-11-2010, 08:41 AM

Here's 2 sites to look at, on the same subject.
site 1
site 2

Parallax · 02-11-2010, 08:58 AM

Interesting trivia:

I just did a little math and discovered that if you divide
the square root of 1 billion by 1000 and multiply the quotient
by 1.5 the result is the average I.Q. of Congress.

Blue · 02-11-2010, 10:58 AM

There is actually two ways to calculate a billion. In our system it is generally 1000x a million. In some systems it is actually a million x million.

graphicgr8s · 02-11-2010, 11:14 AM

You stealing my stuff again?

Arpe · 02-11-2010, 05:00 PM

Yeah, depends whether you're talking an English billion, or American billion.

Blue · 02-11-2010, 06:14 PM

Originally posted by Arpe

Yeah, depends whether you're talking an English billion, or American billion.

Not to mention Chinese billion was similar to the long scale also as was the Japanese and Korean counting system.

daacon · 02-11-2010, 08:09 PM

The best way I heard a billion described was by a Project Manager for a large construction company "A 3 comma momma"

Jasvox · 02-11-2010, 10:43 PM

How much has the war in Iraq costs in dollars to date? $706.6 Billion. How much good has been done? Debatable.

Afghanistan? $253.3 Billion.

That's $959.9 billion total., and... $7,199 per taxpayer in the USA since 2001....

Should be over a trillion in a few days.

Jason

little laker · 02-12-2010, 12:13 AM

Originally posted by Jasvox

Afghanistan? $253.3 Billion.

I would imagine that's for the USA alone, I wonder how much it is combined

asdf · 02-12-2010, 12:42 AM

Originally posted by Fl_Gulfer

A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

No penguins 3 million years ago?

keyser · 02-12-2010, 12:50 AM

Originally posted by Arpe

Yeah, depends whether you're talking an English billion, or American billion.

Yeah, the UK Billion is a million million.... that's a thousand times more than the US version.... not to mention that the US dollor will only buy you roughly .69 of a pound

**boriscleto** · 02-12-2010, 09:59 AM

A billion dollars isn't impressive at all. But a trillion dollars is a lot.

What a trillion dollars looks like.

02-11-2010, 08:01 AM	#1
Fl_Gulfer Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Florida Gulfer Photos: Albums Posts: 3,054	What's a Billion ? How many zeros in a billion? This is too true to be funny. The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of it's releases. A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959. B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive. C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.. D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet. E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it. While this thought is still fresh in our brain... let's take a look at New Orleans .. It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division. Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) is presently asking Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans . Interesting number... what does it mean? A.. Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) you each get $516,528. B. Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets$1,329,787. C. Or... if you are a family of four... your family gets $2,066,012. Washington , D. C HELLO! Are all your calculators broken?? Building Permit Tax CDL License Tax Cigarette Tax Corporate Income Tax Dog License Tax Federal Income Tax (Fed) Federal Unemployment Tax (FU TA) Fishing License Tax Food License Tax Fuel Permit Tax Gasoline Tax Hunting License Tax Inheritance Tax Inventory Tax IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax) IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax) Liquor Tax Luxury Tax Marriage License Tax Medicare Tax Property Tax Real Estate Tax Service charge taxes Social Security Tax Road Usage Tax (Truckers) Sales Taxes Recreational Vehicle Tax School Tax State Income Tax State Unemployment Tax (SUTA) Telephone Federal Excise Tax Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax Telephone State and Local Tax Telephone Usage Charge Tax Utility Tax Vehicle License Registration T ax Vehicle Sales Tax Watercraft Registration Tax Well Permit Tax Workers Compensation Tax (And to think, we left British Rule to avoid so many taxes) STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago... and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt... We had the largest middle class in the world... and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What happened? Can you spell 'politicians!' And I still have to press '1' for English.

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02-11-2010, 08:22 AM	#2
Rupert Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Texas Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 25,123	Yes, a billion is a lot of cash...and I will miss it as a short lived commonly used measure. While you were doing all this calculation, our govt. moved on to bigger and better things....like the now commonly used "Trillions" figure. What's next? I think maybe it is back to your "C'....a billion years ago. Living in caves is not so bad until they figure in the "bat tax"...which I am sure they will. Regards!

02-11-2010, 08:26 AM	#3
rhodopsin Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Deep Forest Posts: 643	RE: Bailouts Try dividing the dollar amount by 300 million, the number of US citizens. Now wouldn't a better plan for "recovery" have been to distribute the per-person amount to each citizen?

02-11-2010, 08:41 AM	#4
little laker Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,697	Here's 2 sites to look at, on the same subject. site 1 site 2

02-11-2010, 08:58 AM	#5
Parallax Senior Moderator Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: South Dakota Photos: Gallery Posts: 19,332	Interesting trivia: I just did a little math and discovered that if you divide the square root of 1 billion by 1000 and multiply the quotient by 1.5 the result is the average I.Q. of Congress.

02-11-2010, 10:58 AM	#6
Blue Moderator Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Florida Hill Country Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 17,377	There is actually two ways to calculate a billion. In our system it is generally 1000x a million. In some systems it is actually a million x million.

02-11-2010, 11:14 AM	#7
graphicgr8s Guest	You stealing my stuff again?

02-11-2010, 05:00 PM	#8
Arpe Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New Zealand Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,452	Yeah, depends whether you're talking an English billion, or American billion.

02-11-2010, 06:14 PM	#9
Blue Moderator Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Florida Hill Country Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 17,377	Originally posted by Arpe Yeah, depends whether you're talking an English billion, or American billion. Not to mention Chinese billion was similar to the long scale also as was the Japanese and Korean counting system.

02-11-2010, 08:09 PM	#10
daacon Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Alberta,Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 20,914	The best way I heard a billion described was by a Project Manager for a large construction company "A 3 comma momma"

02-11-2010, 10:43 PM	#11
Jasvox Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 3,107	How much has the war in Iraq costs in dollars to date? $706.6 Billion. How much good has been done? Debatable. Afghanistan? $253.3 Billion. That's $959.9 billion total., and... $7,199 per taxpayer in the USA since 2001.... Should be over a trillion in a few days. Jason

02-12-2010, 12:13 AM	#12
little laker Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,697	Originally posted by Jasvox Afghanistan? $253.3 Billion. I would imagine that's for the USA alone, I wonder how much it is combined

02-12-2010, 12:42 AM	#13
asdf Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Canada Posts: 1,252	Originally posted by Fl_Gulfer A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet. No penguins 3 million years ago?

02-12-2010, 12:50 AM	#14
keyser Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Tsawwassen, BC Posts: 376	Originally posted by Arpe Yeah, depends whether you're talking an English billion, or American billion. Yeah, the UK Billion is a million million.... that's a thousand times more than the US version.... not to mention that the US dollor will only buy you roughly .69 of a pound

02-12-2010, 09:59 AM	#15
boriscleto Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: North Syracuse, NY Photos: Gallery Posts: 16,475	A billion dollars isn't impressive at all. But a trillion dollars is a lot. What a trillion dollars looks like.