Understanding "Trillions" and Why Politicians Need Slapping

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jagvocate
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1:00p, 9/20/22
AG
We use the word 'Trillions' like we understand it -- a trillion in COVID relief here, two more over there - some liquidity injections for institutions today, bailouts tomorrow, quantatative easing, last month, never ending wars, etc. etc.

I refuse to believe the humans making these commitments truly know how big a trillion actually is. Before they enslave the futures of our children and grandchildren with government debt, they must be made to answer these simple questions (answers below):

1. How long is a million seconds?

2. How long is a billion seconds?

3. How long is a trillion seconds?
____________________________________________________

1 million = 12 days
1 billion = 31 years
1 trillion = 31,000 years

Slap anyone making these commitments that doesn't understand the math!

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DrEvazanPhD
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1:00p, 9/20/22
Bro. math is racist.
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AgBandsman
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1:03p, 9/20/22
AG
As an engineer, even I am somewhat shocked at this, even though I understand a trillion is a million times a million.
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tk111
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1:10p, 9/20/22
AG
I have no doubt that there are peeps in congress that quite literally do not comprehend this number - as in like, they could not mathematically define it for you in any way...number of zeros...number times a another number like poster above said...etc. There are some frighteningly stupid people running this country, but there are plenty of other examples to display that.
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AGHouston11
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1:16p, 9/20/22
AG
What is important is that we provide trees in the inner city to give green equity. Can you really put a number on important things like this …….
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BlackGoldAg2011
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In reply to AgBandsman • 1:20p, 9/20/22
AG
AgBandsman said:
As an engineer, even I am somewhat shocked at this, even though I understand a trillion is a million times a million.
i too was shocked by the jump. until i looked at it closer and realized, the 12 (actually 11.57) days is 0.0317 years.. so:

0.0317 years
31.7 years
31,700 years

then it made instantly more sense
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Krazykat
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1:33p, 9/20/22
AG
https://usdebtclock.org/
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HumpitPuryear
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1:44p, 9/20/22
AG
There's really no will to even talk about spending anymore. The genie is out. We can't pay off $31T in debt. Americans don't have the stomach for the austerity programs it would take to do it. There's talk of the feds taking 401Ks away. I don't think it will happen because it's much easier and less politically damaging to just print more money. We've been kicking the can down the road but at some point we are going to run out of road.

A discussion about how a bankrupt country dies and rises back from the ashes would be interesting. Anyone know of a good book on the topic?
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Detmersdislocatedshoulder
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1:50p, 9/20/22
it's impossible to pay back the national debt. that's how big 31 trillion is.
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Fat Black Swan
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2:12p, 9/20/22
AG
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jagvocate
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5:18p, 9/20/22
AG
We are going to have to issue Gold bonds in a few years to have any hope of managing this debt load.

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CEPhD
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5:37p, 9/20/22
AG
Budget on a log-log plot?
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TexAgs91
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5:37p, 9/20/22
AG


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Tom Doniphon
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5:39p, 9/20/22
"Debt isn't a problem... we'll just print more and pay ourselves off" ~ FJB economics 101
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TexAgs91
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5:42p, 9/20/22
AG
I member back in '82 how everyone was dumbfounded that we had more than a $trillion in debt

Those were the good ole days
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DallasAg 94
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5:46p, 9/20/22
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Funky Winkerbean
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5:48p, 9/20/22
AG
The real reason they won't raise interest rates.
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DamnGood86
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5:50p, 9/20/22
AG
The lottery ruined the monetary perspective of the masses. Before the lottery, a $100,000 was a lot of money and most people only dreamed of having that amount of capital.

Now everyone believes if they play their cars right, they could have tens of millions and they oblivious to just how big the numbers are. Or at least that's my theory.
You may not be a moron, but some people think you are.
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AzAg80
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In reply to HumpitPuryear • 6:07p, 9/20/22
AG
HumpitPuryear said:
There's really no will to even talk about spending anymore. The genie is out. We can't pay off $31T in debt. Americans don't have the stomach for the austerity programs it would take to do it. There's talk of the feds taking 401Ks away. I don't think it will happen because it's much easier and less politically damaging to just print more money. We've been kicking the can down the road but at some point we are going to run out of road.

A discussion about how a bankrupt country dies and rises back from the ashes would be interesting. Anyone know of a good book on the topic?
It's really no longer about paying off the debt, it's about being able to roll the debt and keep paying the interest on it. Problem is, Congress keeps piling on more debt while simultaneously the Fed is increasing interest rates. In addition, the Fed is just now beginning to sell off its massive bond assets (Quantitative Tightening), not sure how many trillions of dollars worth, meaning those bonds are competing for buyers with the bonds that need buyers to keep financing our debt. A market flooded with bonds will drive interest rates up even higher to attract buyers. No one is really talking about QT much but the timing is terrible.
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HumpitPuryear
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In reply to AzAg80 • 6:30p, 9/20/22
AG
AzAg80 said:
HumpitPuryear said:
There's really no will to even talk about spending anymore. The genie is out. We can't pay off $31T in debt. Americans don't have the stomach for the austerity programs it would take to do it. There's talk of the feds taking 401Ks away. I don't think it will happen because it's much easier and less politically damaging to just print more money. We've been kicking the can down the road but at some point we are going to run out of road.

A discussion about how a bankrupt country dies and rises back from the ashes would be interesting. Anyone know of a good book on the topic?
It's really no longer about paying off the debt, it's about being able to roll the debt and keep paying the interest on it. Problem is, Congress keeps piling on more debt while simultaneously the Fed is increasing interest rates. In addition, the Fed is just now beginning to sell off its massive bond assets (Quantitative Tightening), not sure how many trillions of dollars worth, meaning those bonds are competing for buyers with the bonds that need buyers to keep financing our debt. A market flooded with bonds will drive interest rates up even higher to attract buyers. No one is really talking about QT much but the timing is terrible.
IMO when push comes to shove the government is going to go into self-preservation mode and print money to pay the debt. Big inflation will be the result and it will be crippling for most Americans but the government can't afford for interest rates to rise much and default would be disastrous so Joe Sixpack is going to get clobbered. I also think the lever-pullers will also find creative ways to force the economy into recession as a means to control inflation vs raising interest rates. They've been talking about recession as a feature, not a bug for a few months.
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91Challenger
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6:34p, 9/20/22
AG
We need to understand how this debt was created. Our Constitution does not allow the government to print money. So the Federal Reserve was created to manage money supply.

The government creates a spending bill, and pays for it by issuing T Bills. Those T Bills are "bought" by the Federal Reserve, with a guarantee to pay interest from the government (aka the US taxpayer). So how does the Federal Reserve have the money to buy the T Bill? They don't. They make it up out if thin air. Then they charge us interest on the money they made up.
"A is A”
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BuddysBud
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6:53p, 9/20/22
AG
From, "A million here, a million there, and pretty soon you're talking real money."

to

"A trillion here, a trillion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money."
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aggietony2010
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In reply to jagvocate • 7:01p, 9/20/22
AG
This video is another great way to visualize something like this.



It's an hour long, but the point is made within the first few minutes.
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ballchain
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7:01p, 9/20/22
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BuddysBud
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8:05p, 9/20/22
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It's almost as if politicians only care about their personal greed and have no consideration of how future economic collapse caused by their selfishness will destroy the lives of their children or grandchildren.

Is is kind of sad that these people are do controlled by their lust of greed and power.
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In reply to BuddysBud • 9:13p, 9/20/22
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deddog
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In reply to jagvocate • 10:42p, 9/20/22
AG
jagvocate said:
We use the word 'Trillions' like we understand it -- a trillion in COVID relief here, two more over there - some liquidity injections for institutions today, bailouts tomorrow, quantatative easing, last month, never ending wars, etc. etc.

I refuse to believe the humans making these commitments truly know how big a trillion actually is. Before they enslave the futures of our children and grandchildren with government debt, they must be made to answer these simple questions (answers below):

1. How long is a million seconds?

2. How long is a billion seconds?

3. How long is a trillion seconds?
____________________________________________________

1 million = 12 days
1 billion = 31 years
1 trillion = 31,000 years

Slap anyone making these commitments that doesn't understand the math!


Also slap any idiot that talks about (usually taxing ) millionaires and billionaires like they are the same thing. That would be any Bernie supporting dunce
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