12,314,704,784,213 is a BIG number!!!

Did you know that the outstanding public debt, as of today, January 25th 2010, is $12,314,704,784,213?? That's 12 TRILLION dollars. But what the heck is a trillion of anything? I mean, everyone knows it's a big number.... but just how big is it??? Here are a few ways to think about how big the number actually is......

• According to the government, the estimated population of the United States is approximately 307 million people. That means, every man, woman and child owe approximately $40,000.... each.....
• If you had that much money in $1 bills, and laid them end to end around the equator, you could go around the equator 789,626,299,495 times!
• If you could stack that many dollar bills, they would reach 835,751 miles in the air!
• It takes 8 minutes and 19 seconds for light from the sun to reach the earth, which is about 93 million miles away from the sun. If the earth were 12 trillion miles away, it would take light from the sun 475 DAYS to reach earth!!!
•  You would have to spend $16,773,500 per day, since January 1st of the year 0 - that's right ZERO - through today to spend $12 trillion dollars.

 Obviously the number is huge. In fact it's so huge that even with the above examples it is hard to wrap your brain around the number. Unfortunately, because the number is so big, most people simply shrug it off, which is the absolute worst thing we can do as citizens. 


As this number continues to grow, it eats up more and more of the available resources in the economy. Simply put, the government must set more and more money aside to pay the simple interest on the debt. So what can the government do? Can they pay it off? Maybe, maybe not. One way they may be able to pay it off is to have large inflation in the upcoming years. Remember, inflation is basically the decrease in value of the dollar, or simply put, inflation is an increase in the money supply. So, if there is rampant inflation in the upcoming years, the $12 trillion isn't worth as much as it is today. Because there are more dollars floating around, the debt is actually worth less. This works out well for the government - they can pay the debt down - but it ruins the average citizen. Just remember the late 1970's....


We are quickly coming to the point in our history where the debt is becoming more than a serious issue. Our government continues to spend money they don't have, money that is created from nothing. This fiscal insanity is putting the country on a track of financial destruction. 


Think about how big $12,314,704,784,213 really is. Think about the fact that congress has to raise the debt ceiling - maybe another $1.9 TRILLION - in the near future because of interest on the debt and their continued spending. Then think about what you would do if you were running the show... or how you would have everything taken away from you if you attempted to act like this with your own finances. 


$12 trillion... on the way to $14 trillion... maybe we should hold our government just as accountable for their financial decisions as they hold us for ours.... as Thomas Jefferson said, "Question with boldness...." Maybe it's about time we start!!!