Andrew Tisch: Let's Ban the Word 'Trillion'

Wall Street Journal ^ | 06/27/2012 | By ANDREW H. TISCH

[SeekAndFind]

Of course, rounding off, they're about the same. But don't we all think that the first number seems so much smaller and more manageable than the second?

The first number incorporates a tidy unit of measurement called a "trillion." We can get our heads around the word "trillion," and so we think we understand what we're looking at. In this case, it is the size of our national debt.

[maine yankee]

I don’t know about getting rid of the word,

But we must never let obama or congress know what comes after ‘trillion’.

[freedumb2003]

>>But we must never let obama or congress know what comes after ‘trillion’.<<

Bazillion, right? Or is it Gagillion?

[freedumb2003]

A trillion dollars. To help, if we started today and went backwards in time and spent a MILLION DOLLARS a DAY, we would be at 3/4 of a trillion dollars when Jesus was born. We would hit 1 trillion dollars around the Battle of Thermopylae (of “300” fame).

That is a MILLION DOLLARS A DAY, folks.

[BfloGuy]

I think there is good reason to borrow the British term “thousand-billion.” It gives somewhat more an idea of the magnitude of a trillion.

[BfloGuy]

I think there is good reason to borrow the British term “thousand-billion.” It gives somewhat more an idea of the magnitude of a trillion.

[WKUHilltopper]

How about calling it “neverbeabletopayillion”.

[twister881]

...we must never let obama or congress know what comes after ‘trillion’.

I think it's the 'Barack-a-zillion.'

[chopperman]

How about ‘milli-quadrillion’. That would be one thousanth of a quadrillion and it could help us prepare better for the next level.

[dayglored]

I like this part from the article:

... from now on, if you want to say "trillion," say "one thousand billion" or "one million million," or "one thousand thousand thousand thousand." Our national debt, then, would go from $15.8 trillion to $15,800 billion. Doing this would show, among other things, that even cutting $100 billion from our debt would bring us down only to $15,700 billion.

That would actually help... I think...

[Steel Wolf]

How about we call it an ‘Obillion’ instead? ‘Barackillion’ doesn’t really roll off the tongue as neatly.

[muir_redwoods]

A thousand seconds is a coffee break
A million seconds is a vacation
A billion seconds is a career
A trillion seconds is 317 centuries

[running_dog_lackey]

-—Let’s Ban the Word ‘Trillion’

Let’s ban the word ‘Dollar’, then there would be no debt at all.

[southernnorthcarolina]

Pop quiz: What's bigger—$15.8 trillion, or $15,772,177,351,447?

Of course, rounding off, they're about the same. But don't we all think that the first number seems so much smaller and more manageable than the second?

Rather than writing out all digits of the national debt, I'd take it further and literally spell it out, just as you'd do if you were writing a check: fifteen trillion, seven hundred seventy-two billion, one hundred seventy-seven million, three hundred fifty-one thousand, four hundred forty-seven dollars, and twenty-six cents.

Would that be awkward and annoying if it appeared that way in the newspaper, or spoken that way on TV? You bet. And maybe if were annoying enough, people would focus on it.

[southernnorthcarolina]

I'd be glad to pay off the national debt with one of these...

... provided I get my change in U.S. dollars.