We hear the word billion mentioned casually by politicians every day, but how often do we really stop to think about what it actually means?
Here are a few pointers.
1 Billion = 1,000,000,000
1 Billion seconds is about 31years.
1 Billion minutes ago the roman empire was in full swing, about 1900 years.
1 Billion hours ago humans were living in the stone age, about 114,000 years.
1 Billion days ago, Australopithecus an ape-like creature related to an ancestor of modern humans, roamed the African savannas, about 2.7 million years.
1 Billion months ago dinosaurs roamed the earth, about 82 millions years.
1 Billion years ago the first multi cellular organisms formed on the earth.
Okay so you've got the idea that a billion is a big number.
So here are a couple more numbers to chew on.
Northern Rock loan guarantees so far 25 to 100 billion or 25,000,000,000 to 100,000,000,000.
The EU budget for 2007 is €115 billion or 115,000,000,000 euros.
The UK contribution to the above is 8.3 billion or 8,294,200,000 euros.
So as usual New Labour is doing a grand job of spending our money, these are some very impressive numbers Gordon.
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6 comments:
I agree, the sums are mind-boggling!
I read about the size of Malta's economy - much more human.
I saw this post and thought hmn, my son would be interested in this.. and then I saw how much dosh we give to Europe. Blimey!!
It brings is home to you when you see all those zeros just how big the numbers really are (the figure paid to Europe is quoted net of our much talked about rebate!).
Good post Mrs S!
We just use 'squillions' these days to describe the enormous waste our politicians subscribe to.
There was a post on Iain Dale by a guy called Graeme I think, who summed it up perfectly - especially where Ed Balls' expenses are concerned anyway!
The word "unsustainable" springs to mind.
I know - I know !
30 billion and we say "Oh that's okay then."
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