A-Trillion-Pt-2B-Best-Of.mp3
A-Trillion-Pt-2B-Best-Of.mp4
A-Trillion-Pt-2.mp3
A-Trillion-Pt-2.mp4
A-Trillion-Pt-2B-B.mp3
A-Trillion-Pt-2B-B.mp4
A-Trillion-Pt-2B.mp3
A-Trillion-Pt-2B.mp4
A-Trillion-intro.mp3
A-Trillion.mp3
A-Trillion.mp4
[Intro]
1, 2, 3
(Let’s see….)
[Verse 1]
Spending faster than we can count
(Totally a staggering amount)
Circling the earth again and again
(How to count… where to begin?)
[Bridge]
A trillion mistakes
(Our race at stake)
[Chorus]
Why don’t you count the amount
For the next million years
Cause the end of what you spend
Alleviate our fears
[Verse 2]
Spending hand over fist
(With a fatal twist)
Pile high to the sky
(Try to count it… try, try, try)
[Chorus]
Why don’t you count the amount
For the next million years
Cause the end of what you spend
Alleviate our fears
[Outro]
A trillion mistakes
(Our race at stake)
Take, take, take
(More than we make)
——— Part 2 B—————
[Verse 1]
Spending faster on our disaster
(A staggering amount… can you count?)
Circling the earth ’round n’ ’round
(Is our accounting sound?)
[Bridge]
A trillion mistakes
(Our race at stake)
(Count out loud!)
1, 2, 3
(Count with me)
… 6, 7, 8
(Too late to debate)
[Chorus]
Why don’t you count the amount
For the next million years
Cause the end of what you spend
Alleviate our fears
[Verse 2]
Spending well beyond our means
(Scenes of obscene)
The height of the bills
(Higher than the hills)
[Outro]
A trillion mistakes
(Our race at stake)
Take, take, take
(More than we make)
ABOUT THE SONG
At seventeen, I was a freshman studying economics at West Chester University. At the time, the national debt of the United States was $827 billion. In a course on fiscal spending and debt, we discussed how short-term political interests are difficult to account for in economics. I suggested that anyone authorizing government spending should be required to physically count each dollar before it could be spent. This would ensure that a politician would spend the rest of their life counting the money—long before they could ever spend it. (If you counted eight hours a day, seven days a week, it would take roughly 190 years to reach 1 billion.)
In August of 2025, the US federal debt is 37 trillion dollars. In January 2020, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that gross federal debt would not surpass $37 trillion until after fiscal year 2030.
1. Weight of $37 trillion in $1 bills
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A single U.S. $1 bill weighs about 1 gram.
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There are 1,000,000,000,000,000 / 1 = 37,000,000,000,000 bills. Wait—we should calculate carefully:
Step 1: Number of $1 bills in $37 trillion:
37 trillion dollars=37×1012 dollars37\,\text{trillion dollars} = 37 \times 10^{12} \text{ dollars} 37trillion dollars=37×1012 dollars
So there are 37 trillion $1 bills.
Step 2: Total weight:
37,000,000,000,000 bills×1 gram per bill=37,000,000,000,000 grams37,000,000,000,000\text{ bills} \times 1\text{ gram per bill} = 37,000,000,000,000\text{ grams}37,000,000,000,000 bills×1 gram per bill=37,000,000,000,000 grams
Convert grams to metric tons:
37,000,000,000,000 g÷1,000,000 g/ton=37,000,000 tons37,000,000,000,000 \text{ g} \div 1,000,000 \text{ g/ton} = 37,000,000 \text{ tons}37,000,000,000,000 g÷1,000,000 g/ton=37,000,000 tons
That’s 37 million metric tons—roughly the weight of all the cars in the U.S. several times over, or about 8 times the Great Pyramid of Giza in weight.
2. How far $37 trillion in $1 bills would circle the Earth
37,000,000,000,000 bills×0.156 m=5,772,000,000,000 m37,000,000,000,000 \text{ bills} \times 0.156\text{ m} = 5,772,000,000,000\text{ m} 37,000,000,000,000 bills×0.156 m=5,772,000,000,000 m
Convert to kilometers:
5,772,000,000,000 m÷1,000=5,772,000 km5,772,000,000,000 \text{ m} \div 1,000 = 5,772,000 \text{ km} 5,772,000,000,000 m÷1,000=5,772,000 km
5,772,000 km÷40,075≈144 times around the Earth!5,772,000 \text{ km} \div 40,075 \approx 144 \text{ times around the Earth!}5,772,000 km÷40,075≈144 times around the Earth!
Stacking $37 trillion in $1 bills end to end would circle the Earth 144 times.
3. Time to count $37 trillion in $1 bills
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Assume a person counts 1 bill per second continuously.
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Seconds in a year ≈ 31,536,000.
Step 1: Number of seconds needed:
37,000,000,000,000 bills÷1 bill/sec=37,000,000,000,000 sec37,000,000,000,000 \text{ bills} \div 1 \text{ bill/sec} = 37,000,000,000,000 \text{ sec} 37,000,000,000,000 bills÷1 bill/sec=37,000,000,000,000 sec
Step 2: Convert to years:
37,000,000,000,000÷31,536,000≈1,173,000 years37,000,000,000,000 \div 31,536,000 \approx 1,173,000 \text{ years} 37,000,000,000,000÷31,536,000≈1,173,000 years
At 1 bill per second, it would take over 1.17 million years to count $37 trillion!
4. Height of $37 Trillion in $1 Bills
37,000,000,000,000 bills×0.00011 m/bill=4,070,000,000 meters37,000,000,000,000 \text{ bills} \times 0.00011 \text{ m/bill} = 4,070,000,000 \text{ meters} 37,000,000,000,000 bills×0.00011 m/bill=4,070,000,000 meters
4,070,000,000 m÷1,000=4,070 km4,070,000,000 \text{ m} \div 1,000 = 4,070 \text{ km} 4,070,000,000 m÷1,000=4,070 km
That’s over 4,000 km tall, which is more than five times the cruising altitude of a commercial airplane (about 10 km), and ten times the height of Mount Everest (8.85 km).
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Another way to visualize it: a stack this high would extend from the Earth’s surface through the stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and into low Earth orbit, almost reaching satellites in orbit!