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US economy tumbles... but it's not ALL bad news..

General chat about Military Finance, Pensions, etc.
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sportbilly42
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US economy tumbles... but it's not ALL bad news..

Post by sportbilly42 »

LOST IN TRANSLATION
U.S. Debt May Grow $1 Trillion on Rescue, Barclays' Pond Says
By Sandra Hernandez
Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. may have to borrow an extra $700 billion to $1 trillion to fund the biggest rescue of the financial system since the Great Depression, according to Barclays Capital Inc.'s

……….blah blah blah blah ……

Over the next decade, the gap between spending and receipts will swell to $5.3 trillion, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts wrote Sept. 10, revising a previous forecast of $3.6 trillion. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office forecast a record $438 billion deficit for 2009 on Sept. 9.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... refer=home

The news that the US Govt was bailing out AIG with an $85bn rescue package sounded gobsmacking when it first broke on this side of the pond. And this latest news article stating that the US deficit could grow to $5.3 trillion in the next decade is mind boggling. ...........However, the problem with REALLY big numbers is that they always get abbreviated...

Something I didn't realise, is that the americans (and maybe the Canadians too - Anglo?) have a different numbering system once you get past a million. The US billion is much SMALLER than the UK billion! In the US, one billion is one thousand million. In the UK, one billion is one million million.

So then....... Has The Bank of America stumped up 85 United States billions, or 85 British billions in dollars?

Is it $85,000,000,000,000 (British system)
..........or $85,000,000,000 (yank)?

And this $5.3trillion deficit over the next decade....
Is that $5,300,000,000,000,000,000 (British trillions)
........or is it only $5,300,000,000,000 (american counting system for trillions)

If it’s the latter, then that’s an instant saving of zillions so let’s pop the champagne and celebrate...... SEE!!...It's not ALL bad news!!
BTW... don't stop any bank manager or stockbroker from jumping out of the window if he wants to....



Remember, the value of your investment can plummet .......as well as fall

(OK, this post is a bit out of step with the recent threads that have involved pi$$ taking or rants.... Is it OK if I go all non-military and highbrow for a moment? I must admit to being ignorant of this difference in the numbering system until today........Or maybe I've been told but forgot)
dongrammar
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Post by dongrammar »

We've used the same billion as america for 30 odd years.. almost though :D
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