Putting a billion in context…
This morning I overheard a comment that the government is spending a billion dollars every eight hours and 20 minutes, and it could cost a trillion to bail out the failing banks. Numbers this large are difficult to fathom, so I thought I’d share an interesting email sent to me by my brother Dan:
A billion seconds ago, it was 1959. A billion minutes ago, Jesus was alive. A billion hours ago, our ancestors were living in the Stone Age. A billion days ago, no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
Now consider that Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu (D) has asked Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans. That means, if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child), you each get $516,528. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787.
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