Our (U.S.) National Debt... can you Visualize It?

MA-Caver

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This is a semi-fun article which helps us to imagine just how big is our national debt compared to what it COULD buy or do were it not paying off the interest on the money loaned out to pay the interest on the money loaned out to pay the interest on the money loaned out (ad infinitium) to the government by the Federal Reserve...
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/110132/visualizing-the-national-debt

Some of these I wish that the debt would've gone to...


Replace Annual Incomes for 19.2 Million American Families
Median household income in the U.S. (half the families earn more, half earn less) was $52,029 in 2008, according to the Bureau of the Census. At that level, $1 trillion would be enough to cover the incomes of a sizable percentage of total U.S. family households. There are no recent official estimates, but the 2000 U.S. Census figured there were about 71.8 million family households.


A Year's Salary for 14.7 Million Teachers
According to the National Education Association, the average teacher salary in the state of California is about $68,000. The total number of teachers working in the U.S. was estimated at 6.2 million ten years ago, according to the 2000 U.S. Census (the last official estimate). So $1 trillion would pay Golden State salaries to more than twice that number of teachers.


5,574,136 Typical American Homes
According to the National Association of Realtors, the national median price for existing single-family homes in May was $179,400. There are about 80 million detached, single-family homes in the U.S., according to the NAR and the Census Bureau.


140 Billion Hours of Labor
That's calculated at the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Still hard to get your mind around? How about this: One trillion dollars is enough to hire all 2.8 million residents of the state of Kansas -- men, women and children -- in full-time, minimum-wage jobs for the next 23 years.


Imagine the possibilities.



Don't even want to think about all the chocolate bars. That is just TOO much :barf:
 

K-man

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Or, if you have an eye for big numbers ...
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Now that IS scary!!
Note the National debt is over $13 TRILLION. MA-Caver's post refers to the annual interest. The actual debt is forecast to increase by more than another Trillion in the next year!
Last one leaving ... please switch off the lights!
 
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MA-Caver

MA-Caver

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Or, if you have an eye for big numbers ...
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Now that IS scary!!
Note the National debt is over $13 TRILLION. MA-Caver's post refers to the annual interest. The actual debt is forecast to increase by more than another Trillion in the next year!
Last one leaving ... please switch off the lights!
They need to have that thing posted bigger than life right in Congress whenever they're in session and on the wall of each and every single person in the Capitol building so that they will be reminded of what they're doing or trying to do... bring the numbers down.
 

dancingalone

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I can't even look at this stuff rationally anymore. Makes my blood boil.
 

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