What does one TRILLION dollars look like?....have you ever imagine that?

 All this talk about "stimulus packages" and "bailouts"...

A billion dollars...

A hundred billion dollars...

Eight hundred billion dollars...

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 Sketchupout 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. Most everyone has seen them, slighty fewer have 

owned them. Guaranteed to make friends wherever they go.

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.

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.

You ready for this?

It's pretty surprising.

Go ahead...

Scroll down...

Ladies and gentlemen... I give you $1 trillion dollars...

Notice those pallets are double stacked.
...and remember those are $100 bills.

So the next time you hear someone toss around the phrase "trillion dollars"...

that's what they're talking about.