I’ve often thought that people have a hard time understanding large numbers. For example, when you hear the numbers $10 million dollars versus $20 million dollars, is there really a distinction in your day to day life? For me, I interpret both numbers as, “More money than I will ever have.” When the numbers go into the billions, there is simply a lack of understanding of what that means. (Especially if you live in the United Kingdom. Then your definition of a billion is all wrong.)
I ran across a web site that attempts to put $87 billion dollars into perspective. This is the money that President Bush asked Congress for last year to continue to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. $87 billion is a lot of money, no matter how you stack it.
[Link courtesy of Del.icio.us]