# A billion



## karlb (Feb 22, 2009)

found this amusing.



People say a billion today, like it was a few quid. !

This is realy interesting and helps us get



into perspective what it realy is.













I find this quite staggering and really brings into perspective 



the actual figure of one billion..








This is too true to be funny. 
The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner,



think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did 



a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases. 

A.
A billion seconds ago it was 1959. 

B.
A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive. 

C.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age. 

D.
A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet. 

E. 
A billion Pounds ago was only 13 hours and 12 minutes, at the rate our



government is spending it. 


Stamp Duty 
Tobacco Tax 
Corporate Income Tax 
Income Tax 

Council Tax
Unemployment Tax 
Fishing License Tax 
Petrol/Diesel Tax 
Inheritance Tax 
(tax on top of tax) 
Alcohol Tax 
V.A.T. 
Marriage License Tax 
Property Tax 
Service charge taxes 
Social Security Tax 
Vehicle License Registration Tax 
Vehicle Sales Tax 
Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago and our nation was one of the



most prosperous in the world.

We had absolutely no national debt. 
We had the largest middle class in the world and Mum stayed home to raise the kids. 

What happened? 

Can you spell ‘politicians?' 

I hope this goes around the UK 
at least 100 times. 

What the hell happened?????


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## siansdad (Sep 13, 2010)

I saw something similar aimed at providing some perspective between a million and a billion - to most of us they are meaningless figures.

Just think of it in seconds - a million seconds is just over 11-days whereas a billion seconds is 32 years minus a couple of months. 

So whilst I apologise for being a pain in the a**e, a billion seconds ago, it would have been somewhere around 1979 - not 1959.


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## Codfinger (Jan 11, 2008)

Ah but then we were prosperous as we had a manufacturing industry and exported all over the world, now we let everyone else do it , My grandparents bought their house in Pompey for 80 guinea's
Chris


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## philsil (Jul 24, 2007)

A few years ago I phoned the VAT people to ask what a billion was.
the reply was a million million.
so, I said every time Gordon Brown said it was just 1 billion that meant
everyone had to find over £16,000 each.
I was told I had my sums wrong. 
Ha ha I said work it out and finished the call.

20 minutes later I received a call from another VAT office saying that it was a thousand million. Then I asked if the Prime Minister and his mates knew the answer too? I think I was told I was being flippant.

Unrelated, I am sure, I got a VAT visit soon after and was reported for not producing the correct reports from the cash register


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

As I understand it in UK usage:-

Thousand 1,000

Million 1,000 X 1,000 = 1,000,000

Billion 1,000 X 1,000 X 1,000 = 1,000,000,000

BUT the USA used 

US Billion 100 X 1,000 X1,000 = 100,000,000

Geoff


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## joedenise (Jul 20, 2007)

hi Nicholsong - that's how I'd always thought of a billion.

Joe


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## KeithChesterfield (Mar 12, 2010)

1.02 billion people suffer from chronic hunger. [UNHCR 2008])
And a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their name.


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

nicholsong said:


> As I understand it in UK usage:-
> 
> Thousand 1,000
> 
> ...


Not since the late 70's apparently. We now share the same billion with our transatlantic cousins. As usual it was their's that was choosen.

Dick


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## viator (May 1, 2007)

A billion in monetary terms soon loses it value and relevance when you start printing the stuff.
viator


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