Everyday I hear the number trillion being casually used.  A Federal Reserve injection, bank writeoffs, debt to be forgiven; what does it all mean?

Let’s quantify a trillion; as in ounces of chocolate.  There are 320 million people eating in this country.  Let’s assume tourists are replacing citizens, so the number is relatively constant.

What if we spread a trillion ounces of chocolate equally among all 320,000,000 of us.  Each year the per capita consumption of chocolate in the United States is approximately 11 lbs per person.

1 trillion ounces of chocolate divided by 320 million people is 195 lbs of chocolate.  If we divide that by 11 lbs per year, that is the equivalent of 17 3/4 years.  

The next time you hear someone casually mention a trillion dollars, think about it.

Don’t think about, make a dent, buy a box of chocolate and spread the love.

Michael