Thursday, March 12, 2009

A little perspective

Huffington Post

Commentary

With billions and trillions flying around the news, it is sometimes useful to do the Big Mac test, and see how many Big Mac would it buy. Here is a slide show of the cars, real estate, luxury, air craft carriers $170 billion would buy.

Excerpts

With the massive numbers that make up the news coverage of the financial crisis - from the $2 trillion bailout to Obama's $75 billion mortgage plan - it's hard to make sense of what those figures really mean.

So, as a service to readers rolling their eyes at the news that federal prosecutors are seeking up to $170 billion in forfeiture from alleged fraudster Bernard Madoff, here is a slideshow that depicts items that can be purchased with 170 followed by nine 0's (according to prices quoted in recent years).

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