Oh, bailout, you're our new Sarah Palin. We can't stop talking about you [1], yet we know so little about you. The president is set to give a televised address [2] about the state of the economy tonight at 9 p.m. EDT — but here's the real question I've been wondering about since the $700 billion figure first popped up: exactly how much is $700 billion anyway?
Well for starters, if you count this double-image pic of gajillionaire Bill Gates as two . . . and then add the other 10 of him in net worth, that's how much $700 billion [3] is: 12 Bill Gateses. That's only a dozen right? Not so many. (?!)
To see the whole dirty dozen of Billy, and more perspective on the figure (including Titanic comparisons) .
- Photo 1 [5]
- Photo 2 [6]
- Photo 3 [7]
- Photo 4 [8]
- Photo 5 [9]
- Photo 6 [10]
- Photo 7 [11]
- Photo 8 [12]
- Photo 9 [13]
- Photo 10 [14]
- The bill for every living soul currently in the US, if everyone were to pay their share? $2,300 per person.
- The sum of everyone's net worth on the Forbes 400 list is twice the cost of the bailout.
- It would take the box office equivalent of 381 Titanics to reach $700 billion.
- Florida's gross domestic product would cover the tab.
- Though looking forward, if nothing is done to fix Social Security, in 75 years the shortfall of $4.3 trillion will be the cost of six bailouts.
So $700 billion: it's pocket change really. It's all in your perspective — right Bill?