From the BusinessInsider.com :

• In 2009, the number of millionaires in the United States rose 16 percent to 7.8 million.
• The top 10% of Americans now earn around 50% of our national income.
• 83 percent of all U.S. stocks are in the hands of 1 percent of the people.
• The bottom 80 percent of American households held about 7% of the liquid financial assets.

• The bottom 50 percent of income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth.
• 61 percent of Americans “always or usually” live paycheck to paycheck, which isup from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007.
• More than 40 million Americans are on food stamps.
• 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line

• 36 percent of Americans say that they don’t contribute anything to retirement savings.
• 43 percent of Americans have less than $10,000 saved up for retirement.
• 24% of American workers say that they have postponed their planned retirement age in the past year.
• The average federal worker now earns 60% MORE than the average worker in the private sector.
• More than 40% of Americans who are employed are now working in service jobs.
• In China a garment worker makes approximately 86 cents an hour and in Cambodia a garment worker makes approximately 22 cents an hour.

What does one TRILLION dollars look like?

All this talk about "stimulus packages" and "bailouts"...

A billion dollars...

A hundred billion dollars...

Eight hundred billion dollars...

One TRILLION dollars...

What does that look like? I mean, these various numbers are tossed around like so many doggie treats, so I thought I'd take Google Sketchup out for a test drive and try to get a sense of what exactly a trillion dollars looks like.

We'll start with a $100 dollar bill. Currently the largest U.S. denomination in general circulation. Most everyone has seen them, sightly fewer have owned them. Guaranteed to make friends wherever they go.

Here’s a hundred bucks - A Benny saved is a Benny earned!!

We’ll start with a $100 dollar bill. Currently the largest U.S. denomination in general circulation. Most everyone has seen them, slightly fewer have owned them. Guaranteed to make friends wherever they go.

Serious coin - Party! Party!

A packet of one hundred $100 bills is less than 1/2" thick and contains $10,000. Fits in your pocket easily and is more than enough for a week or two of shamefully decadent fun.

One Million Dollars!!! Sa-Weet!!

Believe it or not, this next little pile is $1 million dollars (100 packets of $10,000). You could stuff that into a grocery bag and walk around with it.

That’s what I ’m talking’ about!

While a measly $1 million looked a little unimpressive, $100 million is a little more respectable. It fits neatly on a standard pallet... (Lemme Get My Truck :) )

Holy cow! WoW Dude!!

And $1 BILLION dollars... now we’re really getting somewhere...

Please have a seat ...

Next we’ll look at ONE TRILLION dollars. This is that number we’ve been hearing so much about.
What is a trillion dollars? Well, it’s a million million.
It’s a thousand billion.
It’s a one followed by 12 zeros.
You ready for this?

......

.....

//5//

=4=

//3//

=2=

//1//

BOOM!!!!!!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen...

I give you $1 Trillion dollars...

And notice those pallets are double stacked $100 dollar bills! So the next time you hear your Congressman toss around the phrase “trillion dollars”... that’s what they’re talking about. Read on…

Spread the Wealth!